Dawn City
by TalkingSalad12
Summary: "You must find Dawn City." After the war with Xehanort, Sora went to find Kairi. She came back, but he didn't. In a dream, a strange woman told her to find Dawn City. When Kairi learns the city is real and may have the power to bring Sora back; she and Xion go to find it. However, the world it is on is filled with danger.
1. Chapter 1

**Prologue**

**During the events of the Keyblade war during Kingdom Hearts 3**

"Thank you, come again."

Sakura picked up her bag and exited the small shop. She thought of a new recipe for food pills and wanted to try it out. If it worked, then the effects could help a shinobi recover their chakra faster. That would help out in battle.

As Sakura walked, she passed by the academy. She couldn't help but stop and look at the school building. It felt like a lifetime ago; attending classes, practicing justu, admiring him. The paper bag crinkled as her grip tightened.

_Sasuke_

Where was he? She still remembered that night as though it was the last. When she found him, leaving the village. She begged him to stay; she promised that she would do everything in her power to make him happy, if he did.

But he didn't. He began to walk away. She threatened to scream if he didn't stop. He couldn't leave, he just couldn't. Then, he thanked her before knocking her out… and he was gone.

She couldn't stop him, and she couldn't go after him, so she begged Naruto to find him and bring him back. He tried, he tried so hard. So hard, that it brought him back to the village in beaten and bloody. Sakura wasn't mad at him, not that she had a right to be mad. She was a ninja, wasn't she? Why couldn't she fix her own mess.

That was why she trained so hard the following few years. She wanted to finally catch up to Naruto and Sasuke. Now, she could destroy an entire training field in a single blow.

"What do you want to play today?"

Sakura couldn't help but overhear a few kids talking. It must had been recess. Three young children; two boys, one girl, where gathered together discussing what game they wanted to play.

"We could play ninja," one of the boys suggested.

"We played that yesterday," the girl sighed.

"But it's fun," the boy whined.

"Well you can be a ninja," the girl said, "I want to be a keyblade wielder."

Sakura let out a silent giggle when she heard the girl. Iruka-sensei must have told that story in class.

_How cute,_ she thought when she closed her eyes for a second. However, when she opened her green eyes, the light didn't return fully. In fact, it was fading.

Sakura turned up towards the sky. How could that be? It was only two in the afternoon. Something, beyond the sky beyond everyone's sight, was darkening the sun. It wasn't the moon; it couldn't had been. The moon's position was nowhere near the sun, it was also obvious just by looking at the sky it wasn't an eclipse. Darkness was streaking over the sun, like black tentacles were slithering over the celestial orb, covering it, consuming it, until there wasn't a single ray of sunshine left.

The whole hidden leaf village was covered in darkness. At first, there was silence, shock stunned the people, who were suddenly forced into darkness. That silence was quickly destroyed by screaming. People were panicking, confused, Sakura was one of them.

"What's going on?"

As if to answer, the ground shook. Sakura could barely keep her balance. Trying to find stability in the chaos. This was not good, the villagers were already scared and confused. Now people were bound to get injured. She began thinking of what to do when…

"Sakura!" Sakura quickly recognized the voice as Hinata's. She felt her fellow kunoichi hold her steady.

"Hinata, what are you doing here?"

"Our byakugon lets us see in the dark. My clan has been sent out to help any villagers," Hinata explained.

Sakura felt relief, knowing the Hyuga's visual prowess, the villagers wouldn't get hurt in the dark.

"What's going on?" Sakura asked, "Is this a mass genjutsu? Is Orochimaru attacking us again?"

"I don't know," Hinata said, "We haven't seen anything that suggests an attack of any kind."

Finally, the earthquake stopped. Sakura sighed in relief. That was one less thing to worry about, "Now maybe we can-…"

_ZAP_

A white light had cast a glow over the land, but it wasn't the sun. Sakura and Hinata looked towards the source of the light. Their eyes widened; their mouth's gaped.

A giant beam of bright, white, light, was shooting into the now darkened sky. As though it were a sword cutting through the darkness. It was so bright, so powerful and constant. Like a force of nature. Sakura tried to see the source of the beam but realized she couldn't. The unseen source was beyond the horizon of the tree lines. It was beyond the village, maybe beyond the land of fire.

Sakura steeled herself. This wasn't a time to panic. She needed to see her teacher; Tsunade, the fifth Hokage.

"I need to see Lady Tsunade."

"I'll stay here," Hinata said, "I'll make sure the academy and the children are safe."

With a nod Sakura ran. Her bag of ingredients forgotten as she began to jump over the rooftops. The light from the beam lit up the sky again, so she could see again. She could see the civilians of the village panicking. She could see every ninja from genin to jonin trying to keep the order in a confusing time.

"Sakura!" The rosette looked over her shoulder towards the source of the voice.

"Kakashi-sensei."

"I take you're going to see lady Tsunade as well?" The masked shinobi asked.

"Unless you know what's going on?"

"Not a clue," Kakashi said, "It's as if the itself sky; is at war."

But with what?

Both ninja approached the villages headquarters. ANBU ninja were seen on top of the building, with Tsunade giving orders, "Try and keep the villagers calm, we can't have them panicking and going out of control while we try to figure what the hell is going on!"

The ANBU dispersed to carry out the Hokage's orders.

"Shizune! Have the new lookouts arrived yet?" Tsunade barked at her assistant.

"Yes ma'am," Shizune quickly responded as she carried a stack of papers, along with Ton-Ton, her pig.

"Lady Tsunade!"

"Sakura, Kakashi, good you're here," Tsunade saw them arrive.

"What's going on?" Sakura asked.

"Believe me, I wish I knew," Tsunade said, "First the sun vanishes, then there's an earthquake, and now there's a goddamned laser shooting into the sky," the Hokage was clearly under a lot of stress, "What the hell is next?"

Kakashi and Sakura took a step back, they last thing they wanted, was being near an angry sanin.

"Kakashi," Tsunade barked, "Go to the southern lookout point and search for enemies. We cannot be caught off guard, in case this is an attack!"

"Right," with that Kakashi was gone. Maybe his sharigan eye could detect enemies.

"Sakura!"

"Ma'am?"

"Go to the hospital," Tsunade began, "Even with the shinobi in the streets, there will still be panic induced injuries. You need to-…" Tsunade trailed off, as something in the sky drew her attention. Sakura was nervous but turned to look anyway. What else besides the pitch-black sky and the laser could possibly be wrong?

Within the darkness in the sky, a new light had appeared, like a star. It grew, got brighter, and brighter until, a blinding white light casted aside the darkness and enveloped them all. Sakura had to cover her eyes to protect her sight. Sakura waited for something to happen; she didn't know what. She didn't know what was happening. Was all this a sign of something terrible? An omen of danger? Were they strong enough to stop it?

After a few minutes, Sakura finally lowered her arms and cracked her eyes open… she blinked, she blinked again. She looked over the village; everything, was fine. The darkness that consumed the sky was gone. The laser over the horizon was gone. It was as if nothing had happened and it was just a nice sunny day.

**Cha! What the hell just happen?** Sakura's inner voice demanded.

Sakura turned to her mentor, "Lady Tsunade?" She then flinched. Tsunade was trembling, boiling in anger. She marched over to the nearest wall, and with a single punch, sent part of the building sky high.

"WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON HERE?" Tsunade bellowed. Both Sakura and Shizune flinched.

"Eh…" Shizune went to her fellow student and gently pulled her into the building away from the hostile Hokage, "Come on Sakura, let's go clean up the library."

Sakura and Shizune spent the next couple hours cleaning up the library. The earthquake had knocked several books off the shelves. While they cleaned, they couldn't help but hear Tsunade shouting at all the reports she received that day. The good news was, no one was injured during the chaos. Also, apparently it wasn't an attack by Orochimaru, or the Akatsuki, or anyone for that matter.

Except, no one knew what was happening. Tsunade had started to receive messages from other villages. They all experienced the same thing, even in other lands. The darkness that swallowed the sun, the giant laser that shot into the sky, the blinding light that seemed to just magically make it all go away.

_What's going on?_

Sakura decided to finish putting away the books and look for Kakashi and Naruto. She only had three left.

_The Sage of the Six paths_, it went on the third shelf.

_The Terror of Ten-Tails_, it went on the left.

And the last one went on the very left. As she put it away and turned to leave, she barely noticed the title of the book, _The Keyblade Wielders and Dawn City._

**** Five months later*****

The sun set was beautiful. Possibly the most beautiful sunset Kairi had ever seen. It wasn't any different from the sunset yesterday or the day before that. The warm hues of the sunlight as it reflected of the sparkling ocean. It was the same. What was different was the hand she was holding. Sora's hand.

It was warm, it was bigger than her hand, and it was so comforting. The war was over, the fighting was over, the enemies were finally gone… forever. Everyone she loved was safe and with her. She could finally live happily… or at least, that's how it was supposed to be.

Kairi looked at Sora, who sat next to her on the tree… or where he was supposed to be. All of a sudden, he had vanished, dimmed, disappeared. He was gone. He said he'd do anything to protect her, give his life for her, and he just proved it.

Tears ran down Kairi's face as she stared at the space Sora was just in. She was alive… but she was alone. She didn't want this. She didn't want Sora to sacrifice himself for her, she wanted him next to her. She placed her hand on the empty spot on the tree. It wasn't fair. For him or for her.

"Why not go find him then?" An unfamiliar voice caused Kairi to look behind her, towards the bridge.

Step, scrape, step, scrape, step, scrape. Like a quiet melody, the noises became louder to the red head.

A long black, Victorian like dress, that tussled with every step came closer to Kairi. A long metal rod was scrapping in front of the dress, brushing at everything on the ground to look for something that would hinder her approach.

Finally, the figure came to a stop at the foot of the bridge. Kairi got off the tree so she could get a better look.

Standing there was a woman. Her dress was pitch black; the bell-shaped skirt did have a lace on the edge of the skirt. A red ribbon wrapped around her waist like a corset, showing off her hourglass figure. The top part was buttoned up to a red ribbon, that was accented with the symbol that Terra, Ven, and Aqua wore. Her long black hair was pulled back into an intricate bun, but what was most eye catching about the woman, was the black strip of fabric over her eyes; she was blind.

Kairi looked at her seeing cane, then her eyes widened with realization. That wasn't a seeing cane, that was a keyblade. It had a very long reach. Its body was long black rod that was embroidered with black vines that shined in the light, ending in a silver point. The handle was silver, the handle guard's, were silver wings that wrapped around the handle. The blades teeth were a silver ivy that grew from the silver spike at the end.

Kairi looked at the woman, expectantly. This woman, this keyblade wielder, was blind, but Kairi could feel it. She knew she was in front of her, she knew exactly where she was. She was beautiful. She looked like she belonged at a gala, not on the battlefield.

The woman sighed, before tucking her keyblade under her left arm, and walking straight towards Kairi. Kairi stiffened when she approached her. The woman started to pull off one of her long black gloves, the motion didn't make Kairi relax.

She arrived at Kairi's location, her glove fully removed. Kairi held her breath when she reached out to her. She closed her eyes at the stranger's actions.

Then opened them when she felt fabric wiping her tears away. The woman was using her glove as a handkerchief.

"Now, now, there's no need to cry," the woman said soothingly.

Kairi couldn't help but wonder if she was actually blind.

"Yes, I'm really blind." The woman said as if reading her thoughts. After she dried Kairi's face, she put her glove back on, "There's no need to be sad, he's not dead. You know that."

"I do," Kairi confess, "But I don't know what to do. If I do what he did, I'll get lost just like him, then he'll just do the same for me. We'd just be going in circles. Sacrificing one for the other, when we just want to be together."

"It's good to have someone who loves you like that, and you would do the same for him," the woman said, "There is another way to save both of you."

Kairi looked at her confused, "How?"

"It won't exactly be easy, the world you need to visit is… it's not exactly a vacation spot."

"What do you mean? How can I save Sora?"

The woman was silent for a minute, then she sighed and answered, "You must find Dawn city."

Kairi's eyes opened. Her vision blurred into existence as she looked up at the ceiling of her room. She sat up and looked out the window. She could see the first light of the sun rising over the mountain range of the Land of Departure.

Deciding it was as good a time as any to get up, she got out of bed. She went to the bathroom to brush her teeth and take a shower. Then she got dressed. Her signature pink mini dress, then she brushed her hair. The tangles came out easier, one of the reason's why she kept her red hair so short.

She tied her shoes on, then went out to the training field. Time for her early morning practice.

**Authors Note**

**Sue me, I prefer English Dub to English Sub!**

**Hello everyone! It has been months since I posted a fic. It has been difficult, but I'm back baby. I'm kicking off my return with a Kingdom Hearts Naruto crossover!**

**The blind keyblade woman, is an OC, that shall be introduced next chapter, but I must confess. She is based off another OC. A RWBY OC, called Angel, by tommylau74 (If you're a RWBY fan, check out his YouTube channel). It is not my intention to rip off tommylau74, his character just inspired me to created someone for this particular fic. She is important and will be explained later down the line.**

**I hope you enjoy.**


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 1: Xion's Determination

Xion's eyes opened. She stared sleepily at the ceiling in her room. Why did she wake up already? It was too early to get up, maybe if she closed her eyes she could fall back asleep and get a few more hours of sleep, maybe she would even have a nice dream about ice cream.

_TAP TAP TAP_

The unmistakable sound of footsteps was heard passing outside Xion's door. That made the former organization member, sit up and get out of bed and go to the door. She opened it slightly and peered down the hall.

She saw the back of Kairi walking down the hall. What was she doing up so early? Xion was tempted to crawl back in bed, but decided, it was a good as time as any to get up.

Kairi went to the training field, full of training dummy's and the wheels that swung around when you hit them. She did this almost every day, get up before the others, and do extra training.

Kairi smacked the wheel mechanism, and it began to spin. It made her think about the rides at carnivals. But she wasn't there for fun. She started hitting the rings as the swung in front of her. Each strike landed. Kairi couldn't count how many she hit. She tried to hit as many as she could in a set time limit. Her gummiphone was on a timer and would ring when it hit zero.

She set the timer for ten minutes, but it felt like ten hours. Focusing, controlling the power in the hits, making sure she hit each one accurately. It was mentally exhausting, but she was determined to get better, stronger.

Finally, her phone beeped, signaling the end of her session.

"You know, those things don't make good opponents."

Kairi turned to see her look-alike, Xion approach her. She held two wooden swords and tossed one to Kairi. Kairi understood what Xion was suggesting. She dismissed her keyblade and took a stance with the wooden sword. Kairi thought about complaining, she wanted to use the keyblade, not wooden swords, but she knew it was safer. Despite Xion's sweet and innocent appearance, she was probably one of the strongest wielders of the keyblade. The sparring session was safer with toys.

Kairi took in a deep breath. She had nothing against Xion. She wasn't creeped out by the fact she looked just like her, save the black pixie haircut. It wasn't her fault. But, Xion looking like her, lit a fire inside Kairi; because at that moment, Kairi didn't like herself.

Kairi lunged forward, bringing the wooden sword full force. Xion blocked with her sword, and with relative ease, she not only pushed the sword away, she delivered a kick to Kairi's stomach, pushing her back a few feet.

It hurt, but Kairi forced through the pain and stood up to counter. Only to find Xion not in her sight.

BOP

"Ow!" Something smacked the back of her head.

"You're dead," Xion's voice came from behind. Kairi turned to see the ex-black coat twirling the wooden sword in her fingers like a baton.

"I want to fight again." Kairi needed to get stronger.

Xion walked back in front of her, "You don't have to put all your strength in the first strike."

The two got back in position. Kairi shot forward to stab Xion. However, Xion vanished from her sight. Kairi tried to look around but stopped when she felt a piece of wood pressed against her neck, "Your throat has been slit. You're dead."

Kairi took in a few breathes, then Xion spoke again, "A skilled enemy will try to get in your blind spot. Don't over rely on your eyes."

Kairi nodded, it was embarrassing, but she knew Xion was only trying to help. Xion pulled her wooden weapon away and got back in her stance in front of Kairi.

Their sparring sessions went on like that for a while. About fifteen, "your dead's," later Kairi was thrown on her back and the wooden sword poked her stomach.

"I know," Kairi sighed, "I'm dead."

Xion held out her hand and helped her up, "We're done for right now. We won't make it through Aqua's training session later."

_You mean I won't make it_, Kairi thought solemnly.

"Let's rest," Xion pointed towards the bench, "I brought some water with me."

"Sure."

The two sat down. Xion handed Kairi a water bottle, which she quickly guzzled. Xion took small sips. Xion couldn't help but glance at the red head. It was… really awkward being around Kairi. It wasn't like with Namine. Kairi was… the original.

Xion was created to steal Sora's abilities and powers. She was a replica after all. She was created without a face of her own. When she started absorbing Sora's powers, she absorbed his memories as well, and those memories went into her appearance, her face, and how she was perceived depended on her relationships with people. Strangers viewed her as a hooded figure. Roxas, Axel, as well as most of the original organization viewed her as Kairi's look alike. Xemnas saw her as Sora. Xigbar…

_Why is it every time I look at her I see you._

What did Xigbar see? Oh, well, it didn't matter anymore.

Xion always hated that. That her appearance wasn't stable. That at the beginning she was a faceless doll. That her appearance, was just something she took from something else. Everything about her was taken from someone else.

She was Kairi's replica, because she took the most precious memory to Sora, unintentionally, and made that memory became her default appearance. Even to herself. Even if her hair was naturally black.

"I told Axel to not hold back," Kairi muttered. She probably didn't even realize she said it out loud.

"Axel always holds back," Xion said, "Even when he should," she thought back to a certain fight, one in front of the mansion in Twilight Town, "You are getting better," Xion said trying to cheer up Kairi and distract herself, "You lasted longer last time."

"Thanks…" Kairi was still down hearted. Not that Xion blamed her. She understood why Kairi was so upset about her strength. During the war, she got caught, then her heart was stolen from her body from Xehanort, which gave him the keyblade, then when Sora saved her, he vanished. Kairi must have felt so useless. Xion did feel like that before, she remembered how Saix yelled at her when she couldn't defeat Riku. However this was different, Sora was missing now.

"So… Do you do this every morning?" Xion asked Kairi if she was training.

"Yeah, I do," Kairi simply said.

"Well, it's great you're determined," Xion began, "But to push yourself too hard. It'll just cause damage to your body."

Kairi didn't respond. It created an awkward silence between them.

"How about we go back?" Xion suggested, "A shower always feels good after a training session." Xion got up and helped Kairi stand and led her back to the castle.

Afterwards Kairi took her advice and went to take a shower. Xion decided to go back to her room and relax. Maybe she could catch a quick nap before lessons. She was just about to take off her shoes when her gummiphone started ringing. She picked it up and checked the caller id and smiled, "Roxas."

She answered, then pressed the phone to her ear, "Hey Roxas."

"Hey Xion," the former Nobody said on the other end, "How goes the training?"

"Some of the studying is boring," Xion said settling on the side of her bed, "But the other stuff is actually kind of fun. I wish you were here."

"Someone's gotta find Sora," Roxas reminded.

"I know, is Axel there I want to say hi to him."

"He's still asleep," Roxas explained, "And I don't think he's going to wake up anytime soon."

Xion couldn't help but giggle, "Well, how is the search for Sora going?"

It was quiet on his end for a minute before responding, "I want to say it's going great, but…"

Xion sighed. When everyone realized Sora was missing and needed help getting home, almost everyone went to look for him. Riku, Mickey, along with Donald and Goofy took a gummi ship. Terra and Ventus took left on their gliders, Roxas and Axel got their own gummiship, the girls however, stayed in the Land of Departure.

"I wish you were here, Xion," Roxas sighed, "I don't know why you wanted to stay and train with Aqua. You're already really strong."

It was Xion's turn to be quiet for a moment. She stared at her hand for a moment, before summoning her-… before summoning Kingdom Key into her hand.

"I… just want to understand the keyblade better. Aqua actually tells me about it, more than Xemnas ever did."

"I figured; she seems nice, but then again almost everyone is nicer than Xemnas."

"She says I'll be qualified to take the Mark of Mastery exam soon. You should come over, maybe I can convince her that you deserve to take it too."

"Don't worry about it," Roxas laughed, "I'm not Axel. I'm in no hurry to be a keyblade master."

BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP

Xion nearly jumped at the sound of her alarm clock. She scrambled to her nightstand and turned it off.

"What was that?" Roxas asked.

"My alarm clock," Xion explained, "I need to go, todays lessons are starting."

"Okay, good luck."

"Bye," Xion hung up and ran out the door to her room.

Xion stood by as Aqua and Kairi spared. Kairi had activated her limit form. It came to everyone's attention that the keyblade could transform with their wielders, granting them new powers and abilities they didn't normally have. It worked wonders, considering how well Kairi fought. If she was that strong naturally she might have actually won a sparing match. Kairi's limit form was called Powerful Parasol, and for good reason.

"Fire!" Aqua shot a fire spell at Kairi. When the fire ball made impact, it hit something that spun like a top, it spun so fast it created a small vacuum that dispersed the flames, revealing a parasol with a flower print; Destiny Embrace's form change. Kairi's dress had changed from pink to red. Her speed, agility, and strength increased tremendously. The red head shot forward and attacked Aqua. She used the umbrella like a sword, swinging it around her like a flag twirler. She was actually giving Aqua a run for her money.

They were having the session outside that day, Aqua thought it would be a nice change of pace. So, when the grass rustled, Xion turned her head to see what was making the noise. A small garden snake was slithering towards a tree, it was small and harmless, but Xion couldn't help but tremble a little. Once when she was on a mission for the organization, she accidentally fell into a snake pit. Ever since that day she had a… small… phobia of snakes.

A loud thud snapped Xion out of her stupor. Kairi's form had worn off and she was now on her back, "Ow…"

Once again, Kairi had been defeated.

"You did great," Aqua said helping her up.

"Yeah, don't lie," Kairi said.

"No I mean it," Aqua said, "You're getting better. You lasted longer, and I was almost beat. Another few hits and you would have gotten me. If you used magic I might had been done for."

"I'm trying to work on my sword technique," Kairi explained.

"And that's fine, it's good to be well rounded," Aqua said, "But when you're fighting someone who beats you at physical strength, it's best to fight with magic. And you're great at magic, almost as good at it as I am."

"I… guess," Kairi said. She was trying to take the compliment, she really was, but she could not stop thinking about Sora. How he wasn't there.

"I think that's enough sparring," Aqua said, "Time to learn about history."

Xion couldn't help but release a groan, that meant it was time to go to the library. The Land of Departure's library was enormous. Filled with books about keyblade masters, their adventures, their accomplishments, the powers they discovered with their keyblades in life.

Aqua would tell them what to study on certain days. Then they would do independent research on that subject. Then Aqua would quiz them. If they passed, they'd be done for the day, if not they'd spend another two hours studying.

Xion was currently reading about the recovery era after the keyblade war. _After escaping the artificial world line the dandelions were trapped in the keyblade wielders began to spread through the cosmos. Setting on different worlds and rebuilding civilizations that were…_ Okay this was boring. Xion looked up, across from here was Kairi. She actually looked invested in what she was reading. She never looked like she got bored, she never put her book down for a few minutes to rest her eyes, she never fidgeted. Just the opposite of Xion.

Xion sighed and grabbed another book. This one was about past keyblade masters. She absentmindedly flipped through the pages and randomly landed on one.

Master Dawn

Her portrait; was the circular stain glass portrait they did for keyblade wielders. She had long blonde hair, wore a baby pink mini dress, and it looked wings made of light came from her back. Xion doubted she looked like that all the time, it must had been her limit form. Sometimes the portraits were of when the masters were at their strongest.

_Named after the city, in which she reigned_

_She stopped the false goddess, who disgraced her name_

_To save her people, she opened a door_

_Led them to a place where there was no war_

Apparently, when Masters died they received a poem along with their portrait. Xion flipped through the other pages. She absent mindedly noticed some of the portraits had blank pages next to them. As she got near the books end she stopped on a different page, a different master.

Master Erica

_Without sight, but never blind_

_Strict, but fair, always, kind_

_Personification, that strength is earned_

_The future she walked towards, painful past she doth burned_

The master was a woman. A blind woman. Nearly everything she wore, from the ball gown like dress, her hair, blind fold, even her keyblade, was all black. It made her pale skin stand out. She was pretty.

Xion knew better than to judge by appearance, and she also knew better than believing that people who were blind were helpless; she still had bruises from that certain fight with Riku, when he wore a blindfold the entire time.

Apparently, Master Erica had the misfortune to be born blind. Yet according to her, non-rhyming biography, she became one of the most powerful and accomplished keyblade masters… that was really cool.

"Hey Kairi," Xion gently whispered. Kairi looked up from her book, "Check out this master. She was cool."

She handed the open book to Kairi. She liked learning about past masters. She couldn't wait to see her reaction.

When Kairi's eyes landed on the portrait, they widened, in shock. That wasn't the reaction Xion thought.

"Kairi, are you okay?"

Kairi suddenly stood up, the chair she sat on tumbled back from the immediate rise, and dashed out of the library, "Aqua!"

"Kairi?" Xion called, before running after her.

Kairi ran into the throne room where Aqua was doing her own personal training; which she stopped when she saw Kairi run into the throne room, open book pressed against her chest, in what looked like alarm.

"Kairi, what is it?"

Kairi went to her current teacher and showed her the picture, "Who is this?"

"Master Erica," Aqua was a little confused, "Kairi what's the matter."

"Aqua who is this woman?"

"What's going on?" Xion ran into the room after Kairi.

"Kairi calm down," Aqua said, "This is Master Erica. She was a Keyblade Master, a powerful one. Despite her blindness, she defeated powerful foes, guarded the worlds from darkness."

"Did you know her?"

"Personally no," Aqua said, "But I did hear about her from Master Eraqus. She was his mother."

"His mother?"

"Yes, she married Master Tiberius, into his family that had been keyblade wielders since the Age of Fairy Tales."

"Cool," Xion commented.

"Why are you asking about her?"

"I saw her in a dream last night," Kairi recalled.

"What?" Aqua asked.

"She told me, there was a place where we could save Sora."

"What?" Xion asked, "Where?"

"Dawn City."

Aqua's face fell at those two words. Then she took the book away from Kairi closing it, "I think you're too tired Kairi. You're done for the day."

"What, but Aqua…"

"Dawn city is gone, Kairi," Aqua said, "It was destroyed a long time ago. You must have read about it and forgot you did. You're just tired."

"But it felt so…"

"Kairi," Aqua stopped, "I know you're tired. I know you've been pushing yourself too hard. I know you blame yourself for what happened to Sora."

Aqua's accusation created a tension in the air.

"We're going to find him," Aqua assured, "but it doesn't help us if we run ragged and go to worlds that are too dangerous even for us."

Kairi sighed, before walking away. Xion watched her slumped shoulders from behind and felt guilty, "I just thought, Master Erica would be interesting."

"She is," Aqua returned the book with a smile, "Master Eraqus always spoke fondly of her. Though a bit nervous," Aqua looked back at the door Kairi vanished through, "She shouldn't feel guilty about what happened. We all should have done better during the war."

Xion sighed, "I know," she should have caught up to Sora, Riku, and Mickey sooner. But she was so happy, she was finally back with Roxas and Axel, and they remembered her. She just wanted a little more time with them.

They should have gotten there sooner. They should have stopped Sora from going on his rescue alone. Why didn't they stop him? Why didn't she stop him? Why didn't she put her foot down and insisted they go with him?

Xion glanced down at the book, _What is Dawn City, anyway?_

"I'm going back to the library," Xion said.

"Okay, keep studying," Aqua reminded, "I'm here if you have questions."

"'Kay," Xion called back, but didn't ask about Dawn City out loud. From how Aqua reacted, it might had been a good idea to let Keyblade Master cool off before asking again.

_Master Dawn… named after the city which she reigned._ When Xion got back to the library she opened the book back to Master Dawn and went to her biography after the poem. She passed her early life and training and went to the page title; governor.

_Master Dawn was the last governor of Dawn City. After she achieved the rank of Grand Master, she was elected by the citizens, to rule. However, the non-wielder population of the world were at constant war. There constant attempts to attack the city, and even though the defenses were impenetrable, no one felt safe._

_ Master Dawn requested help from the Grand Council, in Scala Ad Caelum. They sent one Keyblade Master. She went to live amongst the non-wielders, and for a while the warring states violence began to decline. It appeared that peace would finally be achieved in that world, until the Keyblade Master that was sent from the Grand Council, broke a sacred role._

_ She stole fruit from a sacred tree. It made her strongest limit form irreversible, and with it's power she unleashed a horrible spell that enslaved the population, with accordance of Keyblade law, that master was deemed disgraced, and her name was erased from history. _

_Master Dawn alone, managed to escape the spells reach. With the aid of the disgraced master's two children. Master Dawn defeated her, but the damage was done. The world was irreversibly changed. Master Dawn decided that world was no longer safe for the Keyblade Wielders. She evacuated all Keyblade Wielders and their families and destroyed all traces of their residency._

_She eventually became a member of the Grand Council and helped established the law that said, no keyblade wielder may meddle in the affairs of other worlds._

Xion frowned, that didn't really tell her anything about the world or Dawn City. Just it's downfall. She got up and went to the Library's Index. She really wished everything was done on computers.

_Dawn City, Keyblade Settlements section._

Xion went to the Keyblade Settlement section, she went straight for the 'D's' and looked.

"Destiny Town, Desire Sanctum… Dawn City," she pulled the book out and began reading.

_After the Keyblade war, and escape from the data world. The Keyblade Wielder's needed to restore life. After Scala Ad Caelum was established, other worlds were viewed for colonization. One such world contained a giant, sacred tree. The power it had flowed through the entire planet._

_Location was also part of its colonization. This world was one of seven, that circled the Keyblade Graveyard. It fit the proposition made by master Chariot. To create the Grand Chariot Barrier. The seven worlds will have a spell cast on them. Should the Keyblade War ever arise again, the Barrier will be cast around the Graveyard, containing the darkness it would create and prevent another Universal Armageddon._

_So, the world was colonized. The name of the settlement was, Dawn City. A city were keyblade wielders could be created, grow, and eventually become Keyblade Masters._

_However, as time went on, there were issues. Not everyone could pass the trial's to become keyblade wielders, and those failed, decided to leave the city and make settlements of their own. These settlements became their own countries._

_Dawn City also had other towns, under influence. So it became it's own territory._

_They refused any aide from Dawn City, despite being the most technological advanced country. _

_In it's time, Dawn City was the most successful Outpost aside from Scala Ad Caelum. Filter systems for clean water. Advanced green houses that grew food. Hospitals that held so many cures for so many disease. And lastly the Chamber of Revival, if a keyblade wielder lost their heart, the chamber would make them whole again, if they got lost in another realm, it would bring them home. It couldn't resurrect the dead, but it was the jewel of the outpost._

_The other countries, became bitter and jealous of Dawn City. They fought over resources, they fought over land, they fought over anything. It was an era of constant war…_

Xion skipped to the end.

… _After the world was deemed to dangerous. The Keyblade Wielders evacuated; all their settlements destroyed. After the fallen master, the non-wielder population obtained new abilities that could rival a Keyblade Master. They based their abilities of the elements of nature, and so the world's name, forever more was, The Elemental Nations._

Xion went back to part that described Dawn City, more accurately, the Chamber of Revival. If that chamber really could do what the book said, then maybe… _wait!_

For years Terra, Ventus, and Aqua were either trapped in another realm or their being was split in several directions. This might even have had the power to give Roxas and Xion a body. If the Keyblade Wielders had this, why didn't they use this?

"Xion?"

Xion went back to the table where Aqua was waiting, "Aqua. I want to ask you a few things."

Aqua immediately noticed the book Xion was holding, deciding she might as well explain she asked, "What do you want to know."

Xion flipped to the page that talked about the Chamber of Revival, "This book says there was a chamber that could save lost Keyblade Wielders. Why didn't Mickey or Yen Sid use it to save you, or Terra, or Ven?"

Aqua sighed, "The knowledge on how to build those, were lost a long time ago. No one knows how to make them."

"Well…"

"Xion, that world…"

"Aqua, I understand, but that was a really, reeeaaally long time ago. During the Age of Recovery. The people there, might have changed, and I doubt they even remember the keyblade."

"They haven't."

"How do you know?"

"Master Erica and Master Tiberius went to that same world, a century ago. They were still at War, and they still had recollection of keyblade, even if it was just a myth."

"But still…"

"It's too dangerous."

"Sora would've done it for you," Xion suddenly declared, "He went into the realm of darkness for you without a second thought. If there's a chance, even if it's just the knowledge of how to created the chamber, wouldn't it be worth it?"

"Xion, Sora wouldn't want us to risk ourselves."

"And I didn't want Roxas to risk himself, but he did it anyway," Xion countered.

"Xion, I am the master here. We're not losing anyone else, and that is final!"

Xion didn't argue. It was pointless to argue at that point. Aqua wasn't going to budge. She just got everything back, she didn't want to risk it. Xion couldn't blame her, but that didn't Xion was going to listen.

Xion stayed up, just sitting on her bed in the dark. Waiting for Aqua and Kairi to fall asleep. She had a plan, and if she was going to pull it off, she couldn't have the others stop her. When the clock struck 11 pm. She turned her lamp on. She started to put her shoes on and went to her closed and pulled it out. Her old coat. She stared at it, she remembered wearing it on missions. She remembered how the hood cords would beat against her chest. How it absorbed the sweat of her body. How easy it was to blend into the shadows as she wore it, and how constricted she felt wearing it.

She shook her head and put it back. She didn't need or want it anymore. She had been meaning to throw it away, but for some reason she never did. She went back and sat on her bed. She picked up the gummiphone and looked through the photos. She stopped at one of her, Axel, and Roxas. She remembered when she took it.

She got her phone as a gift from Chip and Dale, and she wanted to take a selfie with her friends. She took it while they were sitting on the clock tower, eating ice cream.

_It's too dangerous! _Aqua's voice echoed in her head. Xion was powerful and strong. She survived the worse Xemnas could do to her, she survived a war that could destroy the universe, she was sure she could survive whatever that world could throw at her… but just in case. She dialed Roxas's number.

_Please be awake._

"Hello, Xion?" Roxas's voice picked up.

Xion sighed with relief, "Hey Roxas."

"What time is it over there?"

"Don't worry about it," Xion said.

"Actually, I've been meaning to call you," Roxas said.

"Why?"

"Axel and I are going somewhere where we won't be able to use our phones," Roxas said.

"Oh? How come?"

"I… uh…"

Xion giggled, "You didn't understand the explanation, did you?"

"No," Xion could practically hear him slump.

"Zexion's explanation was really long and confusing."

"Yeah he's boring," Xion agreed, "But you have to admit. He's much nicer now."

"Yeah, I didn't think he could actually smile before." The two laughed.

"So, what happened during today's lessons and training?"

"Well, I learned that Master Eraqus's mother was blind, but still a badass master apparently."

"Hey just like us," Roxas chirped, "So is there a reason why you called?"

Xion stiffened for a moment before replying, "I can't just call and say hi?"

"You can but," Roxas was quiet for a moment, "You seemed off lately."

"What do you mean?"

"When we were in the organization, you'd jump at the opportunity to go with me or Axel on a mission. I thought you'd want to come with us on our search for Sora," Roxas explained.

"I did- I do. I just want to get better with the keyblade," Xion defended.

"You're already good at it," Roxas said.

"I want to learn from a master."

"I get that, it's just, why now? You finally have your own existence and the Organization is gone. I thought you'd want to explore, see the worlds you want to see, not because someone ordered you to. I thought you wanted to be free… Xion… Xion?"

Xion had put her phone, down, but didn't hang up. What Roxas had confessed to her. Was weighing her heart down. She felt tears welling up in her eyes.

"Xion, I'm sorry," she faintly heard Roxas's apology. No, Roxas didn't say anything wrong. She quickly pulled the phone to her ear, and forced her voice to settle down.

"No, Roxas, don't apologize. You are right, it's just…"

"Just what?" Roxas gently pressed.

"You have Oathkeeper and Oblivion. Kairi has Destiny's Embrace. Aqua has Stormfall. Riku has Brave Heart. What do I have? I have _Sora's_ keyblade," at that confession, she felt her heart sink like a stone, "Keyblade's are supposed to be unique to each wielder, but mine isn't. I have my own existence, but it's just a constant reminder that my power, isn't mine. It's just something borrowed… at best."

That was the reason she was training with Aqua. She was hoping that eventually, her keyblade would change, like Roxas did. Without another keychain, so her weapon's default form, would be her own.

"I understand," Roxas comforted quietly, "I went through the same thing when I learned about Sora. I hated that I wasn't my own person, or that my power wasn't originally mine. You'll get there," Roxas encouraged, "You're your own person. You just need to prove that to your heart first. Then your keyblade will take the shape of your heart."

Xion smiled, of course Roxas understood, he was Sora's Nobody once, "Thanks."

"No problem, anything else you wanna talk about?"

"Um… Yeah…" Xion said, "Well, today in the library, I showed Kairi the picture of Eraqus's mother and she said…"

"What? Could… bzzt… I did-… bzzt."

"Roxas?" On the other end, Roxas's voice was being consumed by static. It buzzed louder and louder until it was ended by a beep. Xion looked at her phone. **Call Dropped.**

Xion frowned. Roxas did say he was going somewhere the phones didn't work. She hoped the place was safe. She placed a hand on her heart. She didn't feel as nervous about the plan now. Talking to Roxas made her feel better.

She remembered how Kairi looked when she thought of Sora. Was… this like that? But was that even right? What were they? Xion was a failed replica of Sora, Roxas was Sora's Nobody. Did they count as siblings? Was this considered incest? She didn't know, she didn't even know if she liked Roxas like that. One of the hard things about being a man-made lifeform. She didn't know if she had a crush on someone, or if they were just her favorite friend. Aqua and Axel had been trying help her understand, but they couldn't tell her what it was like to have those kind of feelings.

_TAP TAP TAP_

The sound of footsteps pulled Xion out of her train of thought. Someone just walked past her door. The bathroom was in the other direction, and both Aqua and Kairi's room were also in that direction. Xion got up and cracked the door open. It was dark, but she could see red hair swaying down the hall with each step.

**I feel it wasn't fair to Xion. Everyone has their own unique Keyblade, but her. So not fair. If her keyblade changed to be unique, what do you think it would look like?**


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 2: The Journal

Kairi crept through the dark halls as quietly as she could. She needed to get back into the library and look up Dawn City. She knew that wasn't a normal dream now. She knew she never saw Master Erica's portrait or heard of Dawn City.

She entered the library, going to the section about past masters, she took a book about Master Erica. She returned to the table and opened the book

She pulled out her gummiphone to use as a flashlight and started to read, "Master Erica Leroux. She was raised and trained to be a keyblade master her whole life. She was bequeathed a keyblade by her Master and adopted mother, Evangeline Leroux. Erica was born blind, so her training wasn't an easy one. At the beginning she was trained how to use her other senses. She listened, smelled, and after a trip to a certain world, even used a technique called seismic-sonar; the ability to sense vibrations through the ground. While that helped it wasn't enough, she trained her senses constantly, her hearing and sense of smell. By age ten, she could hear the beating wings of a butterfly and even catch it," That was impressive, "Her keyblade was called Black Ivory. Her strongest limit form was called Black Angel, a transformation; at full power, rune like wings would appear on her back. That gave her god like speed and strength, and she would end the form and battle with her most powerful attack; Ivory Blast," that sounded badass. It also made Kairi excited.

Sometimes wielders would find keychains from past masters. Changing their weapons to match theirs and giving them their limit forms. Kairi noticed a note at the bottom, "Warning: Since the original creator of the limit form was blind, any who used it would lose their sight throughout its use. Wow…" Kairi didn't think she had the skill to fight blind.

She continued on with the biography, "One of the most accomplished masters, she passed her Mark of Mastery at the age of fifteen. Later on, she married her husband Master Tiberius." What about Dawn City?

"I think you want this book."

Kairi gasped and flashed her gummiphone in the direction of the voice. Xion was standing behind her holding a book title, 'Dawn City.'

"Could you stop sneaking up on me?" Kairi asked.

"All keyblade wielders need to be aware of their surroundings," Xion walked next to her and opened the book to the page about the chamber, "If the ghost of Master Erica did come to you, I think she wants you to find this chamber. If Sora did get lost in the Final World or in the Realm of Darkness, this will bring him back."

Kairi read over about the chamber and looked up, "Why didn't we use this before?"

"To summarize," Xion said, "We forgot how to make, and when a Xehanort level crazy, Keyblade Master, tried to take over the world, they made the non-wielder population powerful; and apparently they are at constant war and… they hate us."

Kairi decided to read over the book herself. Xion pulled out her gummiphone and played one of the games she got off one of the movie posters, in Twilight Town. It was best way to pass time while Kairi read.

"The Elemental Nations," Kairi finally finished reading.

"I'm going there tonight," Xion said standing up, "If there's a chance we can at least learn about that chamber, I say it's worth it."

"No don't," Kairi quickly said.

"Why not?" Xion asked, "I thought you'd be on board."

"I am, but if we go tonight, Aqua will know where we are; and drag us back by our ears," Kairi explained. That really didn't sound appealing to Xion.

"Yeah," Xion sighed scratching the back of her head, "Usually when I run away, the people I run away from don't usually care that I… We?" Xion looked at the princess of heart.

"I'm coming with you! No complaints," Kairi pointed at her.

"Okay, fine," Xion sighed, "Don't complain if you die."

"About that," Kairi said pointing to the paragraph about the aggravated inhabitants of the world, "This was…"

"During the Era of Recovery?" Xion finished sensing Kairi's question, "I asked Aqua about that too, she said that Master Tiberius and Master Erica went to that world about a century ago. Apparently, they were still at war, and still remembered the keyblade; mostly as a myth but…"

"Master Tiberius…" Kairi muttered.

"What about him?"

"I think," Kairi thought, "Maybe his journal's here."

"Yeah… maybe…" When Keyblade wielders died their journals would be added to the library, so the future generations could read about their personal experience. Kairi wasn't sure she'd want her diary put in a library, even if she was dead and buried.

They decided to put the two books back. Kairi gave one last glance at Erica's book. It had two quotes from the deceased master.

"Hard work will always surpass talent."

"Hatred is too strong an emotion to waste on someone you don't even like."

Kairi and Xion went to the archive section, where the journals of past masters were stored. It was another wing of the library all together. There were a lot of keyblade masters, and they wrote whole bookshelves of journals filled with their adventures and discoveries. They pulled out their phones and went to the 'T' section. Using them as flash lights to look around. The two split up, hoping to speed up the search. Kairi walked past the bookshelves that began with 'T.' Tara, Tessa… Tiberius.

"Master Tiberius, found you," Kairi said, read the section and went in. His section was big, and none of the books had titles. Granted no one would write, "My adventure to Wonderland," or something akin to that. She assumed they were in chronological order, but that didn't help her. She didn't know what part of his life, his quest to the Elemental Nations happened, so she did the only thing she could do and pick at random. She grabbed one of the earlier volumes and opened a page.

_Today, we received new arrivals. Dad said that they were a keyblade master and her daughter. Apparently their home got destroyed and they needed a new place to live. Jade's over the moon, she said she wanted some new friends._

_ Master Eva and her daughter Erica. According to dad, Erica is my age. She's eleven. She doesn't exactly look like a girl. Her hair is long, but messy. Her clothes are baggy, and brown. Oh and, she's blind, she even wears a blindfold to show it. When she came through the door, she was holding Master Eva's hand while scrapping her keyblade in front of her. Dad said that's how most blind people got around. They used long canes to feel what's in front of them, so they don't walk into walls._

_ Her keyblade is really long, I'm amazed she can hold it._

Kairi raised an eyebrow. The girl described didn't seem to be the same as the woman, but then again, this was when Erica was eleven years old. Plus, she was blind, did blind people even care about how they looked?

_During training, I went through the obstacle course. I almost made it halfway there this time! Jade still can't make it past the pit. Erica and Master Eva came to watch, well Master Eva watched, Erica just stood there._

_ When I was done, Erica said she wanted to try the obstacle course. While Dad and Master Eva discussed it. I whispered to Jade. I mean, they seriously wouldn't let her do it right? She was blind, how was she supposed to even know where she was walking._

_ Jade looked nervous when I said that. I looked behind me to see Erica had turned her head facing us. I couldn't see her eyes, but it looked like her eyebrows were slanted, like they do when you get mad! She couldn't possibly have heard me; I was at least ten feet away and whispering to my little sister._

_ Then Dad came back and said she was running the course. I was surprised but didn't say anything. _

_ But guess what? When that little blind witch walked past me, she smacked her keyblade into me. It didn't hurt, but she so did it on purpose._

_ "Sorry, can't see you," I could hear the smugness in her voice! And to add insult to injury, she completed the whole obstacle course! She got over the pit, dodged the sand bags, she even, got past the paintball guns that get me every time! Even the blind sneak attack that sometimes gets Dad, and it was all her first time!_

Kairi could hear the temper tantrum of a kid in her mind as she read.

_I went up to her and accused her of cheating. No way was she blind. She took off her blind fold and showed me her eyes. They were grey, even the pupils, and she said, "Of course I'm blind stupid."_

_ Mom told me to never hit a girl. To be fair I didn't hit her… she wouldn't hold still._

_ Dad and Master Eva broke us up, we were forced to make up and shake hands. But that's so the last time I lose to her! I am Tiberius! My family has been keyblade wielders since the age of fairy tales! NO WAY AM I LOSING TO A DUMB BLIND GIRL, WHO ISN'T EVEN PRETTY!_

Kairi let out a chortle, "That dumb blind girl is your future wife."

Kairi put that journal back, definitely not that one. She went ahead a few volumes.

_I decided to call a truce with Erica for a while. Today she was quiet. She didn't say I was stupid or that my name sounded dumb. When I tried to insult her, she didn't say anything, she just walked away. I didn't get it, yesterday was her birthday, she's thirteen, why wasn't she happy? Then Jade told me._

_ Last night Jade was practicing a gravity spell. (Practice yeah right. She wants an excuse to float around, because it's fun). She floated by Erica's room and she heard talking. Apparently, Master Eva had something to tell Erica and since she was thirteen now, she was old enough to take it._

_ First off, Master Eva isn't Erica's real mom. She adopted her. I guess that made sense, Erica never talked about her dad, and she didn't look like Master Eva. _

_ I thought that was it, Erica was just having a hard time accepting Master Eva wasn't her real mom, but Jade… she looked like she was going to be sick. When I asked her what was wrong, she told me that wasn't just it. What Jade told me next, made me feel sick._

_ Apparently, Erica's parents… didn't die… They were probably still alive… Apparently… When Erica was born… they knew she was blind… and apparently… they didn't want her… They were going to…_

_ Kill her_

Kairi's eyes widened when she read those two words.

_If Master Eva hadn't taken Erica, her parents would have killed her… just for being blind. I tried to imagine it. Your parent's who were supposed to love and take care of you… wanted to kill you, for something that wasn't even your fault._

_ I felt sick I still do. I can only imagine how Erica feels._

_ I… will try to be nicer during this truce. She's still my rival._

_ I will never say these things out loud, so I'll say them here. She's an amazing keyblade wielder. She's better than me, despite being blind and if I don't work harder than her, she'll become a keyblade master before me. That's why I have to compete with her. She's at a level so much higher than me. I want to reach that level. Because she's so amazing._

_ Her parents were wrong!_

Kairi closed the book, _the painful past she doth burned,_ that must had been what the poem. Kairi had heard that some people, murdered their blind children. Calling it mercy! How sick.

She put the journal back. Deciding she had nothing to lose she decided to try something completely ridiculous. She summoned her keyblade, closed her eyes spun around, then stopped. She stuck out her keyblade and gently poked a random book.

Did Kairi really think she'd find the right book like that? No, but she was bored and desperate and maybe doing this with a keyblade would go faster… Okay she felt really stupid, but what did she have to lose?

She went to the journal her keyblade touched and pulled it out; while dismissing her keyblade. She opened to the first page.

_I can't believe we're here. Since I was a kid, Dad told us to never come here, and Erica certainly never wanted to come here._

_ But we're here, and now, its time to find out what really happened._

"What really happened?"

_Some things in the history books don't match. So we come to the world that was once the home of our greatest kingdom, as well as the sight of one of our greatest failures. The Elemental Nations._

Kairi almost cussed in shock, it actually worked. She quickly flipped to the next page, except it was blank. She flipped through a few more blank pages until she finally found some more writing.

_Well, this world is certainly as dangerous as they say. The world's main force of military are ninja's or shinobi._

Ninja's like Yuffie?

_Up until a short while ago the residents were at constant war. The stories I heard… it was a literal hell. Children, not even a decade old were forced to fight._

That is horrible

_But someone finally decided to stop it. They started a village, where people could train and grow happy. When that village was established other villages like that happened to. War mostly came to a stop, but there is still a tension between nations._

_ I guess, they're still trying, but everyone is afraid of each other. They're suspicious of each other. They're still trying to get stronger, to get the edge on their neighbors. Whether it is through Jutsu or tailed beast._

What? Kairi turned the page. The next page had a title: Chakra and Jutsu's. What's chakra? The page also had a diagram, of a person with lines going through their body. At first, she thought it was an attempt at a physical body system, but she kept reading.

_The people of this world have a energy flowing through them that is unique only to them; it called chakra. Its spiritual energy combined with physical energy. The shinobi can control this chakra with hand signs and use them to make jutsu's._

There was a diagram with different hand signs.

_ Jutsu's are how the ninja fight. Keyblade wielders have spells, shotlocks, limit forms, attacks, and blocks/barriers. The ninja have ninjutsu, taijutsu, and genjutsu._

_ Taijutsu is basically martial arts. Hand to hand combat, although it is very impressive compared to other worlds._

_ Genjutsu, is basically illusions or mind control. The shinobi uses their chakra to control the chakra of another. That can control the person, whether it's their perception or their body._

_ Ninjutsu, that is like a mixture of the two. The shinobi uses their chakra to attack others like we use spells. Using a different combination of hand signs, they can do amazing things. They can transform their appearances, they can make clones of themselves, they can replace themselves instantly with an object, so it looks like your hitting them, but you're actually just hitting a log or a rock._

Jutsu's huh? Kairi sat on the floor and looked over the hand sign diagram. She tried to form some of the hand signs on the page, but her hands were too stiff. Her fingers clumsily got tangled in messes. Did they seriously do this in the middle of a fight?

_Also, they have summoning. While we can summon an ally with a charm, their summoning isn't as user friendly. They have to use a little bit of their own blood for the summoning._

Ew.

_They also have chakra natures. I think this is where the big nations got their names. The five basic chakra natures are, fire, water, earth, wind, and lightning. Everyone is born with at least one nature. They can learn another, but that takes years, or so I'm told. Sometimes I forget how easy keyblade wielders have it. _

_ The point is, depending on chakra nature, they can use certain elemental attacks. _

Yeah in terms of power keyblade wielders do have it a little easier. Sure there are some elements that come more naturally to some than other, but they could learn the other elements.

_There are a rare few that are born with unique powers, they're called Kekkei Genkai. They're powers passed through bloodline. Unique only to that family, or clan._

Kairi turned the next page.

_Tailed Beasts_

_ The tailed beasts are demons native to that world. There are nine in total, and they are called tailed beasts for a reason. They are known as one-tailed, two-tailed, etc. They are powerful and dangerous and they are kept secured inside…_

Kairi decided to flip to the next page, she didn't care about demons. The next page was a drawn map of the world. Each country was labeled, along with the ninja villages and symbols. The biggest countries were, the land of fire, water, earth, wind, and lightning. There were smaller countries, some also had ninja villages.

"Village hidden in the leaves, village hidden in the sand," She absent mindedly read out loud. She flipped the next page.

_Ninja rank_

_ The ninja's have a ranking system, from ninja in training, to the leader._

_ Academy students- technically they aren't ninja's yet, just kids at school learning basic jutsu trying to become ninja._

_ Genin- Ninja apprentices. They don't go on big missions, more like they're hired to do chores. They help with reconstruction, mow a noble's yard, or find lost cats._

_ Chunin- Intermediate ninja's. They are capable of guiding and teaching others. Some teach academy students. Others lead small teams on missions. They go on the more dangerous missions._

_ Jounin- Elite ninja's. they go on the most challenging and dangerous missions. Where Chunin fail, they succeed._

_ Kage- the top ninja. They are deemed as the powerful ninja, and are made leaders of their village. Only villages in the big elemental nations have Kage though. The none elemental nations, are ruled by clans or their feudal lords. There are five Kage in total: Hokage of fire, Kazekage of wind, Mizukage of water, Raikage of lightning, and Tsuchikage of earth. Word of advice __don'__t get into a fight with these guys!_

Kairi nodded, almost like Tiberius was talking to her. She turned to the next page.

_The Uchiha Clan_

Kairi looked at the picture next to the title, "Is that a fishing bob?" then she read the small note at the bottom.

_That isn't a fishing bob, it's a paper fan._

"Oh."

_The Uchiha are a clan that used to be blood thirsty. They wanted power and they wanted to win. For the longest time they were at war with the Senju clan. They finally started an era of with the Senju when they formed alliance. I say it's about damn time. Why were they even fighting, what was so worth it, that they had to keep fighting for generations? Oh well, I guess it doesn't matter anymore, they're finally putting it all behind them and moving on._

There was a two pictures of an eye, but there was something weird about the irises. One was labeled, standard, the other mangekyou. The standard picture was colored red and had three tomoe in them. The other eye picture had a more complex version.

_The Uchiha's Kekkei Genkai is called the sharingan. When activated it gives them 'visual prowess,' meaning really good eye sight. They can chakra, they can see through genjutsu illusions, they can even see a jutsu and copy it instantly._

That's handy.

_That's the standard sharigan. The mangekyou, is a more powerful advanced version, but it comes at a terrible cost. For an Uchiha to advance their sharingan to that level, they must lose someone dear to them. _

Kairi frowned. That was horrible.

_Even when they get it, it's not perfect. They usually get another unique power with this advanced sharigan, but it still comes with another price. Continued use of the mangekyou sharingan eventually leads to blindness._

Well that sucked.

_That's not just the worse part. An Uchiha can have a mangekyou sharingan that never goes blind. Here's how they can get it. Another member of their clan, preferably a close relative, like a sibling, must activate their mangekyou. Then… you take their eyes and transplant them in place of yours._

WHAT? Kairi reread that sentence several times. He could not be serious.

_As sick as it is, it's true. When I learned about this, I almost vomited. Members of that clan actually killed each other for their eyes in the past._

Kairi was actually starting to feel sick herself. She barely noticed that the paragraph seemed to finish too early. There was a good amount of space between that sentence and the next.

_Their last clan leader was a man named Madara, Madara Uchiha. I hadn't seen him since we got here, he left the Leaf Village some time ago, but there was a portrait. Apparently, he wasn't happy he didn't become first Hokage. So he left_

There was a sentence missing. It was like, someone went in and erased some of the sentences. But why?

_We met with the Hokage today and his brother. Hashirama Senju and Tobirama. Hashirama was most welcoming, but Tobirama was a stiff, I can see why Hashirama became village leader, although he's a bit odd. They made the same mistake I did when I first met Erica. Whispering about how she was a 'fragile blind woman,' that led to the Hokage's desk being shattered by her seeing stick (we got her a real one before coming here. She couldn't risk using her keyblade)._

_ "I'm sorry, I couldn't hear you. Did you say fragile? I'm sure you __**brave ninja**__ are not afraid to speak your minds," I could hear murderous intent in her voice, Erica hates it when people pity her behind her back. She scared the top ninja in the village._

_ I managed to calm her down. Oh, Erica, my dearly beloved wife. As kind as an angel, but also as vengeful as a demon._

_ I don't know if they'd be as welcoming if they knew we were keyblade wielders. We've hidden that fact to keep the World Order. Apparently, they still remember us; well, kind of. As far they know we're a bedtime story. And a good one at that actually. We're seen as heroes, but just in case, we're going to keep our… special weapons to ourselves._

_ Hashirama has special, technique, called wood style. It's kekkei genkai that lets him control wood. It's not as, organic as I'd thought it be. When I imagine wood power, I imaging trees and plants growing. When he uses wood style, it's like, he's growing chopped lumber to use in construction._

Kairi tried to imagine it. Chopped lumber with the ability to grow. Then she flipped the next page.

_Using old maps and the current map we got from the Hidden Leaf Village, I managed to cross reference the location of the ancient settlement along with the villages. Erica can do many great things most blind people can't, but even she can't read a piece of paper without grail._

_It seems that there are villages were the keyblade wielder territory used to be, but from what I understand, there's been no mention of any ruins._

_ Granted, Master Dawn must have done a thorough job, but, there should have at least been remnants of foundations. Even with the test of time. We decided to check out a spot. The locals call it the deadlands, because apparently nothing grows there. No one can survive there, not even the ninja's who live in the desert, can survive there. Nothing grows. According to our map, it used to be the location of one of the border towns in the Keyblade Kingdom._

The next page took place on the next day of their quest.

_Master Dawn… you beautiful genius! All this time, we thought the Keyblade Kingdom was gone, but it isn't. All this time, beneath their feet and they never knew it!_

Someone's excited.

_Today we arrived at the deadlands. It was just like they said. It was barren, more lifeless than a desert. We wandered around for a bit and found nothing. Then all of a sudden, Erica summoned her keyblade and transformed it into a hammer. Then she hit the ground causing a small earthquake._

_ It was so out of the blue I landed on my ass. I asked her what she was doing, and she told me she needed a stronger radius. Her seismic sonar. Usually she can feel the vibrations in the ground with her feet, every step is like a bat calling into the ground. It's one of the reason's I can't seem to win against her._

_ She explained she was using the hammers impact to make a vibration that lasted longer. That's when she told me why she needed to do it. She said, roughly fifty miles below the surface, there was a ceiling to an underground cavern; a really big one._

_ That's when Erica started to walking around, hitting her keyblade hammer against the ground. It went on like that for hours, I had to go to a safe distance just to keep standing. Sometimes Erica is too stubborn. Admittingly I thought she was going nuts… just a little._

_ Finally, she came back and told me she found something. She took me a waterfall. When I asked her about it. She grabbed me and threw me into it. Luckily I didn't slam into the cliff, I flew into a cave, hidden by the water fall. Shortly she came through the waterfall and walked towards the back, I followed her and you won't believe what we found. It was an elevator, a giant elevator._

An elevator?

_It was really old, I had to use a thunder spell to charge it. And when we got in and pressed the down button, it's drop was like a roller coaster. We could barely stand. It went like that for at least an hour before it finally stopped. Whoever built that thing deserves to burn in hell._

_ We had to lie down for five minutes to get our bearings. Then we stood up and exited that hellavator._

Master Tiberius was punner, good to know.

_The cave led into a giant cavern and you won't believe what we found. A town. A town fifty miles beneath the surface. The architecture did not match the towns of the shinobi. And then there was the sign at the entrance._

_Cardia Town_

_ That was the border town from ages past. The Keyblade Kingdom, Dawn city it's still here! Master Dawn didn't destroy it she submerged it fifty miles below the surface!_

Kairi felt hope rise in her chest at those words.

_ Imagine what we could learn. Imagine all the things that were lost to us, now we can reclaim. Imagine all the history we could learn!_

Suddenly a voice in the back of Kairi's mind, _why didn't they?_

Why didn't they explore more of the Keyblade Kingdom, of Dawn City? Why didn't they bring back their findings so that they could have the Chamber of Revival? What went wrong? She turned the next page.

_ It's a mess. It's all a mess. I screwed, I'm sorry!_

_ Earlier this week I summoned my keyblade, and leaf ninja saw me. After we left the village, they told the Hokage and his brother. When we returned to the surface to go to a town for supplies they cut us off. At first, I thought they just wanted to talk, but Erica could sense that we were surrounded._

_ They told us about the ninja that saw me summoning my keyblade. I felt like the ground opened up and swallowed me whole. I tried to laugh it, trying to convince them that it really was just a fairy tale and they drop it and let us leave; but apparently no one tries to sell jokes to Hokage's._

_ Hashirama tried to make it seem like they came in peace. I think he honestly wanted that. His brother however, he looked like he was waiting, for one little mistake. One mistake on my part so he could attack us._

_ I tried to stay calm, Erica tried to stay calm. But it was all because of a twig, I took one small step back. My foot landed on a twig, snapping it. I guess someone thought it was an attack, because one of the hidden ninja's threw a knife at my head. I didn't even know it was thrown until Erica summoned Black Ivory and deflected it. She did it to save me, but now a keyblade, a real keyblade for all to see, was in front of them!_

_ I panicked, I summoned Master Defender and used the stop spell. It stopped time in the whole area. By the time it was complete, there were knifes and shuriken frozen in the air. Tobirama's blade was an inch away from my neck._

_ I grabbed Erica and ran as fast as I could. The spell would only last a minute, I prayed it would give us enough time to get away. Luckily it did._

_ We went back to the cave hidden behind the waterfall. Erica told me no one followed us. The spell must have lasted longer than I thought._

_ When we got there Erica started crying. She kept saying, "I'm sorry," and "It's my fault."_

_ I held and told her it wasn't her fault. It was mine. I was careless. Erica was just trying to protect me. We decided to go back underground and wait out the search. Luckily, there is an ecosystem down there. We can survive off the land for a little while._

_ I keep thinking about how they reacted to us being keyblade wielders. They didn't even give us a chance to explain ourselves or tell them that we came in peace. They almost killed me. I'd be dead if Erica hadn't protected me._

_ Maybe, Master Dawn was right. This world is too dangerous for us._

Kairi swallowed before turning to the next page. The date was about a few weeks after.

_We're back home, safe and sound._

_ It wasn't easy. When we went back to the surface, the land was shaking. We managed to stay hidden, but we did manage to overhear people talking about the battle that was going on. Hashirama was Madara._

Once again the pages had some blanks. The whole section had blanks.

_It seems Madara had gone mad and decided to attack the village. I couldn't help but hope for the village. Yes they did try to kill me yesterday, but they were scared. Scared of a power they didn't understand. That didn't make them evil._

_ We would have left right then and there, if we hadn't heard the next part of Madara's plan. He wanted to use the forbidden spell. The same one the disgraced master used on that world so long ago. Master Dawn deemed it forbidden to be used by anyone, it's as forbidden as a second keyblade war._

_ And as Keyblade Master, I have to make sure it's never used._

_ I wanted to run, to take Erica and run. Madara wasn't a keyblade wielder, maybe he couldn't use it, but could we risk it?_

_ Erica convinced me to check at least._

_ At first we heard Hashirama won. We were going to just leave it at that, but Erica seemed uneasy. She said she felt something was, not right._

_ So, we went to where Madara was buried, and according to Erica he wasn't there, his coffin was empty. Erica followed a set of footprints to another place._

_ That's where we found him. Or more accurately he found us. He sensed us coming. I told Erica to stay hidden, that I'd handle it. I didn't want her to fight him!_

_ Madara, was suspicious. He noticed that I didn't have any chakra. I noticed one of his eyes was blind but didn't asked._

_ I tried to reason with him. What he wanted to do was wrong. It wasn't peace, it wasn't even living, but he was too far gone._

_ He was a man who suffered great loss. He wanted peace, I know he did. He created the village after all. But apparently it wasn't enough. He wanted a world without pain, I admit it sounded tempting, but life is pain and joy. What he wanted, would take away everyone's freedom. I couldn't convince him. No one could. He was another soul consumed by hate and spite. So I summoned my keyblade._

_ He actually reacted faster than Tobirama. We fought. He was possibly the strongest opponent I've fought in my life. His Taijutsu alone almost ended me._

_ Our fight happened so fast, it was blur. I remember blocking attacks so hard, my hands ached to keep Master Defender in my grip. I remember pushing every sense I had, just like Erica taught me, then I remembered being slammed on the ground, knife in my gut, a giant arm about to crush me. When Erica appeared._

_ She batted the arm away like it was nothing. I tried to get up, but my legs failed. She told me to rest and that she would take it from there. _

_ Then Madara looked at her for the first time._

The next couple pages were completely blank. When the text picked back up again…

_They fought. It was like watching to deity's fight. They were so fast I could barely keep up. They both reacted to each other's attacks. I never saw anyone keep up with Erica before. When Erica started using lightning magic, Madara summoned his… giant spirit armor. It started out as a skeleton appearing around him, Erica couldn't get past it. _

_ When Madara tried to crush her, she summoned the light chains, but that monster grew sinew and skin, and broke free! I never thought that was possible. Then to make it worse, the spirit creature grew armor. And gained a sword._

_ When it brought down the sword, I remember screaming Erica's name. But I also saw her wing. In a flash of black, the arm that held the sword was chopped off. Erica was now behind Madara. By the time he turned around it was too late, Erica used her limit form's final attack. She sent the Ivory blast into the monster's chest. Forcing Madara out. As he fell into a ravine she used the blizzard spell to freeze him._

_ When it was all over, she fell to her hands and knees crying. I finally managed to heal myself. I ran to her and held her close in my arms. _

Once again another blank. Why was this journal full of blanks?

_ I never wanted her to do this, but I was too weak to do it myself._

_ It's best, if keyblade wielders stay away from that world. The people there are full of fear after centuries of bloodshed. If someone powerful, like a keyblade wielder comes by, they will panic and lash out. Inspecting Dawn City along with the other towns, will take years. We can't afford anymore confrontation. I think, the Hokage and his brother are keeping it secret that two keyblade wielders had appeared then left. They don't want another riot._

_ I'm not sure Erica killed Madara. He somehow managed to slip past Hashirama. Yes he was covered in wounds, incased in ice, but what if there was a river at the bottom of the ravine? Could he have survived?_

Kairi shivered, this sounded like a ghost story, but this was a century ago. She was sure the crazy ninja was dead. She stood up.

"Xion, I found it!" Kairi called.

In a matter of minutes, Xion appeared, Kairi quickly shoved it to her and started to explain, "Okay, so this world is a ninja world," Xion started to flip through the pages, "But they're not like Yuffie. They have this energy in their bodies called chakra. That makes them use jutsu's, they're kind of like our spells, or special attacks. Anyway, they have been at war for as long as they could remember, and even though it's supposed to be peace time, countries are still suspicious of each other. And there was this guy named Madara who almost killed them. But the great news is, the Keyblade Settlements are still there. Master Dawn didn't destroy them, she just sunk them underground. They even found an elevator that will drop down really fast, but it will take us there. If Dawn City is still there, then so is the chamber!" Kairi said excitedly, "We bring Sora home, but we need to be really careful there. No keyblades unless it's absolutely an emergency, we don't know if these people have calmed down enough to not lash out at powerful people. We need a plan and a cover story. It will probably take us a long time even if we have a map. Maybe we can get Hayner, Pence, Olette, and Namine to cover for us. They did invite us over for summer vacation. We can convince Aqua to let us have a vacation… Sure she'll be mad, but if we come back with Sora she won't be too mad right. Do you have any questions Xion?"

Xion watched Kairi ramble until she finally asked her something. Xion lifted the page with the Uchiha crest on it, "So, this isn't a fishing bob?"

**I confess, when I first saw that family crest on Sasuke's back, I thought it was a fishing bob. I was young, just starting middle school, and learning that there was more to Anime than just magical girls and Pokemon**

**To answer some of your questions, no, Kairi isn't going to be paired with Naruto. Nor Xion will be prepared with Naruto. Nor will either twins be pared with Sasuke (****Definitely not Sasuke!****)**


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 3: The Plan

_Thunderous applause filled the night air, along with the booming of fire works. Kairi sat on the boat as it sailed through the Canal. She sat on the throne at the center. Girls in dresses danced around her. Kairi waved and smiled, feeling a bit sheepish. Everyone looked so happy to see her, it was kinda embarrassing. _

_ Soon the boat reached its destination, the center of the city, in front of the giant clock tower. Kairi stood up and walked forward as a pathway appeared from the throne on the boat, towards the festival's center piece, a statue of Kingdom Hearts. A man wearing his keyblade armor stood next to it._

_ Kairi approached the base, which had a giant keyhole. Elegantly, Kairi held up her hands, light appeared between them before forming a keyblade. It was an array of orange and gold. A sun was the teeth, gold and orange weaved together at the base, before forming the handle and guard. She saw her reflection in the blade. Long brown hair, green eyes._

_ A small voice in the back of her mind told her, this wasn't what she looked like, or that this wasn't her keyblade. She ignored it. She was the maiden for the festival that year, she had a job to do._

_ She walked up to the keyhole, holding her keyblade, like a knight holds a sword. She closed her eyes, preparing to make her speech, when something flashed through her mind._

_ A bright light in the sky, wooden vines, people screaming, a figure with long hair._

_ Kairi opened her eyes in a small gasp._

_ "Dawn?" The man next to her asked._

_ The small voice in her head said that wasn't her name, but Kairi didn't care._

_ "It's fine father," Kairi whispered. She looked back at the keyhole and gave her speech, "We thank the light of Kingdom Hearts for watching over us. May our peace continue, and may our hearts be our guiding key!"_

_ Kairi inserted the keyblade into the keyhole and twisted it. With a clang the statue started to glow a heavenly light, and everyone cheered._

Kairi's eyes then blinked open. She sat up on the couch she was sleeping on making another mental note to thank Olette again, for letting her sleep on the couch. She stretched her body, tightening it, waking it up. She then got up to go for a morning run. Twilight Town didn't have an obstacle course like the Land of Departure, but it was still a nice place to go for a run.

She left Olette's house, and started with a jog. Her mind wandered back to her dream. It was certainly fun, Kairi couldn't remember the last time she dreamt about a festival. She bet Sora would have loved it.

* * *

Xion stood in front of the Items Shop as the Moogle took her Munny. It began to transition it into Ryu. According to the journal, the Elemental Nations didn't accept Munny, they accepted Ryu. Luckily, along, with selling items, the Moogle's also ran a banking system that could transition Munny in any world's currency. Xion figured, so long as it has something to do with profit, the Moogle's will do anything. _Uncle Scrooge must have serious competition._

Xion pulled out her phone to check it; No New Messages. She couldn't stop thinking about Roxas, she tried calling him, him and Axel. She didn't want to hide what she was doing from them. She left messages, telling them where she and Kairi were going. She knew that meant she'd have to hurry, or they were going to go after her and Kairi.

"Here's your new currency, kupo," the small creature held up a stack of foreign money.

"Thank you," Xion said, putting the money away. She went to the Bistro for lunch. She heard great things about Little Chef's cooking from Donald and Goofy. How a tiny rat could make such good food was beyond her, but she did see a talking clock before, so she just rolled with it.

As she sat down, she ordered two fruit tartes. Then she pulled out Tiberius's journal to read through it again. She wished she had something like this during her organization days. Having some information about a world she was going to visit for the first time was certainly refreshing.

From what she gathered from the book, the whole, chakra thing, was going to be a problem. To the people of that world, having chakra is like having a stomach or heart. You need it to function, but since neither Xion nor Kairi came from that world they had no chakra whatsoever.

The journal also said, some ninjas could sense chakra. They could tell if people had chakra or not, and if they found out there were people who didn't have any chakra at all… that was going to raise suspicion. They were going to have to avoid the ninja villages to be safe.

Luckily the journal also talked about their headbands. Ninja's wore headbands with their village symbol on it. Even if they didn't always wear them on their heads.

Xion kept in mind the journal was about a century old. When they got there, Xion was going to have to gather intel. Hopefully her skill hadn't dulled since her time with the organization. She sort of realized that she was kind of grateful for the mission training they gave her.

There was also one piece of advice Tiberius had in his journal.

"_If you have to fight, fight to run!"_

Good to know. The ninja and their abilities were different from theirs. It was never a good idea to fight a powerful opponent with unknown abilities. They would arrive, lay low, find Dawn City, get what they need; whether it was Sora or the ability to save him, and go! She'd be sure to go over that with Kairi when she met with her.

"Xion."

Xion looked up to see that Kairi had finished her training; the redhead was now sitting at the table in front of her.

"How's the research?"

"Good," Xion replied, "I'll get a better idea of the world when we get there."

"You really think we should avoid the ninjas?"

"Better to be safe than sorry," Xion said, "We can talk to the non-ninjas, or civilian's as the journal says."

"I understand, but if we're going to talk to anyone, we also need to work on us," Kairi pointed out.

Xion gave her a confused look, "What do you mean?"

That was when the waiter came back and placed the tarte's in front of them, when he saw Kairi he couldn't help but comment, "You ordered for your sister, that's nice."

"That's what I mean," Kairi said as the waiter left, "People are going to assume we're twin sisters, and I don't think explaining the truth is going to help."

"Oh."

Yeah Xion could see how explaining that she was a lab made replica, designed to steal someone's powers, could be a problem.

"So… we'll pretend to be sisters," Xion agreed.

"I'm sure you can pull it off," Kairi and Xion looked up to see Namine. The two smiled as Namine sat down at the table, "So, today's the day you're going?"

"Yeah," Xion nodded.

"Can you sense Sora," Kairi asked feeling hopeful. Due to the nature of Namine's powers, she could sense Sora, but ever since he vanished it weakened, "Nothing new," Namine explained, "I can feel he's alive, but, that's it. I don't know where he is."

"I see," Kairi looked at the tarte before she took a bite out of it.

"We'll find him, Kairi," Xion assured.

An hour later, they were saying good-bye to Hayner, Pence, Olette, and Namine.

"Remember, if anyone comes here and asks; we're… at the beach," Kairi explained.

"Be careful out there," Olette told Kairi.

"Tell Sora to man up, letting his girlfriend save him," Hayner said.

"And what's wrong with that?" Kairi and Olette said in unison, shooting him a glare.

"Uh…"

"What he means is," Pence said trying to save him, "Is that your strength is better used than to be wasted on saving someone dumb enough to get lost."

Xion giggled, until Namine pulled her away from the rest of the group. She wanted to talk to Xion alone, "You need to watch out for Kairi."

"I know," Xion said, she was about to leave but she could by Namine's expression, there was something else.

"I sense, something in Kairi," Namine said with uncertainty, "Like another aura."

"Maybe, she's just a little different now," Xion suggested, "Maybe she finally passed on her Princess of Heart, power."

"No, she still has it," Namine said, "Protect her Xion, I think, Kairi might get into bigger trouble."

After their good-byes, they left, flying their gummiship flying through cosmos. Kairi enjoyed watching the stars go by. Xion was driving. Sora knew how to pilot the gummiship, that ability transferred to Xion, so she was the pilot. Kairi looked over their assortment of keychains. When Kairi came back, she had Sora's keychains. Did he give them to her? Kairi couldn't remember.

After warping to the star system that had the Keyblade Graveyard, that also meant flying past that world. Kairi didn't look at it, she didn't even face it. She could still feel the glow of that ancient world. Almost like the sun, and she still felt it after they long left it. The memories of the war with Xehanort started to flood back.

Shame washed over her as she recalled how it all went, and how she should have handled her fight. Xemnas grabbed her, her arm was pulled into a painful position. She should have gotten free. She should have summoned her keyblade into a reverse grip and stab the powerful Nobody. Why didn't she? Because she was too busy calling to Sora for help. She wanted him to protect her. She wanted him to save her, but he didn't.

NO! She wasn't blaming him. Xehanort was the one who cleaved his keyblade through her and took her heart. Sora did save her, but it cost him everything. All that talk about, wanting to fight, to do her part, and she just got caught… again. Just like with Maleficent, just like with the Organizations… Why was she so weak?

"Kairi?" Xion's voice called, breaking Kairi's train of thought, "We're here."

Kairi got up from her seat and looked at the world they had arrived; the Elemental Nations.

"It's big."

"Bigger than any world I've been to," Xion agreed.

Kairi felt nervous, her heart was starting to thud in her chest. All the rumors, all the reports, all the horrible stories that came from this world, she started to feel the weight of them on her chest.

Then she felt someone hold her hand. She looked to see Xion, giving her a nervous, yet reassuring smile, "Don't worry, I've done plenty of under cover missions. We'll go in and out real fast. No one will even notice we're there."

Kairi took in a deep breath, _Remember, you're doing it for Sora._

"Okay, let's go."

They went to the ship's transporter. The two stood on the pad and Xion pressed the button. Kairi held her breath as the two were sent to the planet's surface. She closed her eyes when the light died down.

_One… two… three… not dead._

Kairi opened her eyes. The first thing she noticed, was that it was night, and they were standing in the middle of a forest, "Did we die yet?"

"Nope," Xion replied, "Come on let's go."

After walking for a while, the two came across a small town at the base of a small mountain, "Let's see if we can find an inn."

So the two walked through the town. Lights filled the streets. Bars and restaurants were open. People were walking and talking in the streets. It was just a normal town. No scary ninja, no blood thirsty crooks, just a normal safe town.

Kairi smiled, feeling relieved. Maybe this world has become more peaceful, maybe this wouldn't be so bad.

Suddenly there was a small tremor. Kairi mentally cursed, _Spoke too soon._

There was a rumbling coming from the mountain, at first Kairi couldn't tell because it was night, but she did see it. Trees shifting fall down along the mountain.

"Landslide," Xion's voiced Kairi's thoughts. And it was coming straight for the town

Soon the townsfolk noticed, then began to panic. They ran in the opposite direction trying to escape the natural disaster. Kairi, however, knew, no one would make it out in time. She looked towards Xion, who nodded in approval.

The two ran towards the landslide. To avoid the crowd, they flowmotioned onto the rooftops and began jumping from there. They had to hurry, they summoned their keyblades as they jumped over the rooftops.

The got to the edge of the town and started jumping through the trees, climbing up the mountain towards the land slide. Kairi landed on the ground, and stabbed her keyblade into the soil, "Barrier!"

Using her magic, Kairi created a giant wall, of shining hexagons. It cut through the mountain, diverting the land slide from the town. Kairi waited for Xion to make her move.

Xion jumped over the barrier into the air, her keyblade pulsing in magic, "Blizzaga!"

She shot the spell into the wave of mud and trees. Instantly, it froze over. The entire landslide was encased in ice, stopping it's advance.

Kairi took down the barrier now that the town was safe. Xion landed next to her, "That should give them time to evacuate."

"What are the odds, they're not going to investigate this?" Kairi asked nervously.

From the shadows, someone watched them. He smiled, before whispering, "Well, well, well, long time no see, Poppet."

***Two days later***

"So, you're saying, the entire landslide, was just… frozen?" Tsunade asked the ANBU currently bowed in front of her.

"Yes, my lady. The villagers said, it happened in the middle of the night. A landslide had started to occur, but it was stopped. It was frozen in ice."

It wasn't just the ANBU in the Hokage's office. Team Kakashi was there as well: Kakashi, Yamato, Sai, Naruto, and Sakura, listened to the report. Naturally, everyone was perplexed by the report.

"How does an entire landslide get frozen?" Naruto asked.

"Maybe a surviving member of Haku's clan?" Sakura suggested a theory.

"Impossible, they're all dead," Tsunade explained, "We can't just ignore this strange occurrence. It might be an Akatsuki plot."

"But the Akatsuki wouldn't save a small village for nothing," Sakura reminded.

"No, technically the village was still destroyed, the ice only held the landslide back long enough for the villagers to get to safety. This does seem like too good a deed for the Akatsuki, but we can't ignore this. That's why I'm sending you to investigate."

"You gotta be kidding me!" Naruto shouted, "We have to go find Sasuke! Orochimaru could take his body any day now!"

"We can't ignore this," Tsunade roared, "First the Darkening, now ice in the middle of summer. We have to investigate."

When Naruto tried to complain, he was quickly silenced by Kakashi, "And on that note, we shall be going now."

* * *

"That's all I can tell you," the man explained, "One minute a landslide was about to kill us, the next, it's frozen."

The man was a traveling merchant. The team found him outside of the destroyed town. He had his five-year-old daughter with him. He stayed at the town, the night of the land slide and was currently explaining what had happened to the shinobi.

"I see," Kakashi said. When the team had arrived village, it was buried under mud and dirt. Any evidence of how it was stopped was long buried.

"How are we supposed to figure out what happened, when nobody knows what happened?" Naruto asked frustrated. He just wanted to get the mission over with so he could go look for Sasuke.

"Dad," a little girl held her father's hand, "I told you, they keyblade wielders saved us."

"Huh?"

"Sweetie," her father whispered, "I apologize, my daughter had a dream that night and think's it's real."

"It wasn't a dream," the little girl said, "When you were carrying me, I saw her. A Keyblade wielder jumping over the roofs. she was just like in the book."

"Yumi, please not now," her father sighed, "Again, I apologize."

"Don't worry," Despite his face being mostly hidden, they could tell he was smiling, "It's a good thing for a child to have dreams like that."

"I used to dream about keyblade wielders too," Sakura smiled trying to make the girl feel better.

"Uh… yeah…" Naruto looked down. Sakura felt her eyebrow twitch.

"Seriously, you've never heard of that story?" Sakura asked, "Iruka sensei actually told it to us in class, back at the academy." Then Sakura came to the natural conclusion, Naruto just didn't listen.

"Even I've heard of that fairy tale," Sai said.

"Of course I know it," Naruto gave, what was clearly, a fake laugh, "But, just in case, how about you tell me, so I'll know for sure that you know it, Sai?"

Sakura sighed, "I'll explain it."

"From beyond the stars, people wielding the most powerful weapon in the universe, descended upon the land, in giant flying ships. That weapon was the keyblade. A key shaped granted those who wielded it great power. They could unlock any door, create or undo any seal, control all elements, draw power from the strength of one's heart, even destroy an entire world; all without chakra! However, these wielders were guardians, protectors of worlds. When they came to ours they built a giant kingdom, at the center of this kingdom, was Dawn City. It was from this city, they kept watch over our world. Defending it from evil, but one day, it just vanished, along with the wielders. Some say the keyblade wielders used their powers for good simply because it was right, others say, it was to make up for their crimes. That long ago, the many worlds used to be one, but in a terrible war, they shattered it, unwillingly."

"Wow," Naruto said with interest, "I want one."

Sakura sighed again, "Naruto, it's just a fairy tale. It even said that the keyblade wielders didn't have chakra in them. There's no way they could have survived let alone destroy worlds."

"Well… if they came from another world, maybe they could have."

"Why don't we focus on the mission instead of old stories," Kakashi said before turning towards the shopkeeper, "Where are the rest of the villagers?"

"There's another village a few miles west," the man explained, "They offered to let them stay with them until their village is repaired."

"I see," Yamato said, "We'll head over there and talk to them. Thank you."

As they were leaving, the little girl tugged on Naruto's sleeve and Sakura's skirt. They looked down at the little girl, "If you see the keyblade wielder, please tell her, I said 'thank you.'"

"Um…" The way the little girls' eyes sparkled, made Sakura give up, "Of course."

"Yeah don't worry about it," Naruto gave a toothy grin.

The girl was small, it wouldn't hurt her to keep believing in fairy tales for a little while longer. Sakura saw how it made her so happy. She glanced over the cliff that overlooked the village that was now buried. Maybe the girl did see the person who saved them, and she just imagined the keyblade.

* * *

"Thanks for the food," Kairi paid the noodle shop owner and left. She started walking down the street. After that night with the land slide, Xion and Kairi went with the villagers to the neighboring town. Kairi sighed, now they had to keep an even, lower profile. She had heard the people gossiping about how the landslide suddenly froze over. Why couldn't they just be happy to be alive and move on?

Kairi and Xion were currently staying at an inn; one with a hot spring. Kairi didn't feel like going back just yet. She found a spot that let her look over the town. She wanted to enjoy the view and why wouldn't she? She was just a normal girl, going on a normal walk, in a normal town… at least that's what she kept telling herself.

The truth was she had been a bit on edge. She saw a few people wearing those ninja headbands. The town was on several routes, so travelers would stay there, including ninja's on missions. Speaking of she wondered where Xion was.

Xion had gone off to gather more intel on the world. At the very least they wanted a map, before going to the deadlands. Not to mention some current event info that would make them look just a little bit like locals and not someone crazy. Xion had gone on several intel gathering missions, Kairi prayed the ninjas wouldn't notice.

She came upon steps that led her up a hill. As she climbed them, she noticed two figures walking down past her, wearing black coats with red clouds and stray hats. Kairi forced herself to keep her vision straight; who was she to stare at what might be fashion trend in another world?

* * *

Sakura finished her latest interview with one of villagers. Basically, the same story. They were too busy running to notice how the landslide got froze over. At this rate, they weren't going to find anything.

Sakura began to remember the little girl and her story. It wasn't that Sakura hated those stories, she loved them. When she was little and bullied, she would stare up at the sky, looking for signs of the keyblade wielders. She imagined all types of beings; angelic creatures to gods, defending her world from horrors unknown. She imagined them all. It was so much fun to think about. However, as she got older, she had to focus on her training. She had to leave behind the story of Dawn City and its guardians.

Sakura couldn't help but wonder what was going on. This was the second unexplained phenomena that she'd seen. She recalled that day five months prior, when the sky turned dark, and light beam shot up from the earth into the sky.

When that happened, Lady Tsunade contacted the other villages. They experienced the exact same thing. Dark sky, bright beam, then everything was back to normal. No one could pull that off, not Orochimaru, not even the Akatsuki! But nothing bad happened after that. No crops dying, no drought, no disease. It just happened, then nothing came of it.

The Darkening; that's what everyone called it. Different people reacted to the Darkening in different ways. The scientist had gone all out trying to explain, Sakura imagined that _snake_ was going crazy trying to figure it out. More religious followers believed it was the sign of the end of the world. The ninja villages just kept an eye out for anything else suspicious.

Sakura was so deep in thought she didn't realized she had reached the hill that was the villages viewpoint. It was a nice view. There was U-shaped terrace on the hill that held benches. Sakura bet that this was a nice spot for couple's.

"_Flower gleam and glow~"_

"_Let your power shine~"_

Sakura gasped, surprised at the singing voice. Sure she wasn't a sensory type, but she'd thought she'd sense another person. They must had been hidden by the curve of the platform. Sakura followed.

"_Make the clock reverse~"_

"_Bring back what once was mine~"_

The voice was so beautiful, the song was equally enchanting, Sakura wanted to see who it was that was singing. She quietly turned the corner; sitting on one of the benches was a girl. She looked around Sakura's age, possibly a year younger. Her hair was short, neatly cut around her face. Her small pink and black dress showed off her small frame. Her fair skin seemed to glow in the sun. Here eyes were closed as she sang, she didn't notice Sakura, and Sakura doubted that she was a ninja. She had no headband, and didn't look like she fought a day in her life.

"_Heal what has been hurt~"_

"_Change the fate's design~"_

Sakura started to quietly approach her. She didn't want to disturb her, but she wanted to listen to the song as well.

"_Save what has been lost~"_

"_Bring back what once was mine~"_

"_What once was mine~"_

From the way she sang, that must had been the last chorus. Sakura couldn't help herself, she clapped.

The girl's eyes shot open and shot to her feet. Quickly turning towards the sound of the applause in alarm.

"Oh I'm sorry," Sakura quickly said, "That was a beautiful song. I didn't mean to scare you."

The girl looked at her cautiously with her blue eyes, "Who are you?"

**Can Kairi sing? Well she's a princess of heart, and nearly every other princess of heart can sing, so… yeah. I'm certain it's a written law somewhere that princess's of heart can sing well.**

**And so Sakura and Kairi meet for the first time (for the record this also isn't a KairixSakura fic. This isn't a romance fic. Sorry) What will they talk about. Where is Xion? Will Naruto eat ramen? Stay tuned.**


	5. Chapter 5

Poppet's Surprise, Kairi Lies

A few ninjas were sitting at a table, having a drink. One of them had their Bingo Book sticking out of a bag. They were too busy drinking; they didn't notice the small hand reaching through the door and taking it. After a few minutes the hand returned it. No one the wiser.

Xion then left the bar and went into a deserted alley. She sat on a barrel and pulled out her phone. She used it to take pictures of the book's contents. From what she learned; a Bingo Book was list of criminals that ninjas carried around. It contained their crimes, their skill level, and their bounty.

Xion decided it would be a good idea to have a list of this world's bad guys. So, she decided to overlook her newly acquired data.

Orochimaru, Xion frowned, he looked like a snake. Literally and figuratively. It stated he was an S-class criminal. She read over his crimes and shivered: Inhuman experiments, stealing someone else's body to prolong his life, using cruel and twisted methods to understand nature… Did Xehanort have a long lost son?

Well, he was on the list of people to avoid in that world. Xion had just finished fighting a sociopath, who wanted to tear apart the world to understand it. She didn't want to deal with another.

She swiped to the next picture, Itachi Uchiha. Xion read over his crimes. This guy killed his entire clan? At the age of thirteen? _What a minute, Uchiha?_

As in the Sharingan, Uchiha? Xion pulled out the journal to double check. Yep, that was the clan. So, they were gone? And he was only one left. Okay, so one of the few powers that could expose her and Kairi was mostly gone, the bad news, the last survivor of that power was a homicidal maniac… good to know.

Xion read more of his file. He worked with a group called the Akatsuki. Xion heard of them during her intel gathering. Apparently, they were a group of rogue ninja, they were extremely dangerous, and wore black coats with red clouds.

_ Seriously, what is it with evil organizations and black coats?_

Xion swiped the screen again; Sasuke Uchiha. Okay, maybe Itachi wasn't the sole survivor. So, far his only serious crime was desertion. He ran away from his village to join Orochimaru, but the village leader wouldn't charge him with any serious crime. There was something about him Xion just couldn't like. Xion hadn't been around long enough to understand boys. Sasuke looked like one of those brooding bad boys that girls, for reasons she didn't understand, would flock too.

Roxas once told her, that Axel told him, that girls were complicated… she wasn't complicated. She liked ice cream and dogs. She liked practicing with the keyblade. How was that complicated? Maybe boys were just too simple… and she liked that! She understood Roxas, Axel, Hayner, Pence, Ven, Riku, Terra, Sora, and she liked them. She knew them, understood them, they didn't hide things from her. Why would girls like a guy who probably never smiled?

Why would this guy work for this Orochimaru?

_You know what? Who cares? I'm not going to meet him if I can help it, _Xion decided.

She jumped off the barrel and put her phone away. She'd have to keep it hidden, this world didn't look like it was advanced enough to have smart phone's and Xion didn't want to explain to people what her gadget was. She gave herself a stretch and gently patted the pocket with her phone, along with the Bingo Book, she found and took a picture of a map. It was great having a smart phone.

"Deadlands here we come," Xion said as she turned to leave the alley. It was about time to find Kairi and go back to the inn.

"Fancy meeting you here, Poppet." A voice behind her said.

Xion stopped dead in her tracks. She'd know that sarcastic tone anywhere, "Impossible!"

"You don't know what is possible, kiddo!"

In a swift turn she was in her battle stance wielding her keyblade. Because any situation with Xigbar was an absolute emergency!

"What are you doing here, you cyclops?"

Xibar's grin never faltered, "Now now, is that anyway to treat an old war buddy?"

"We were never friends," Xion spat, "Now answer my question. What do you want? Xehanort's gone! Don't you have better things to do than bother us?"

"As if," Xigbar began to circle her, "I was on this world first, if anything you're the one bothering me. Although, things are a little quieter than the last time I was here, but you know that's going to change."

"I don't remember Xemnas ever sending us on mission's here," Xion thought out loud.

"He didn't," Xigbar waved the air. Xion turned to keep him in her field of vision, "The old coot was too afraid of this world. Frankly, he had good reason to be. No, I came here a few times before I joined the organization."

"Oh please," Xion rolled her eyes, "How stupid do you think I am? You didn't know other worlds existed before Xehanort told you about them."

Xigbar laughed. Xion was not going to let him get to her. He enjoyed his mind games.

"Oh Poppet, I put on quite an act, to get what I wanted."

"A keyblade?" Xion asked, "Oh, please, you know perfectly well, Xehanort was never going to give you one." Every decision lead Xehanort's followers from bad to worse. Why Xigbar stuck with him was beyond her."

"I know."

Xion blinked. He knew?

"He lied about passing his keyblade to me, he just wanted to use me to help him get what he wanted," Xigbar shrugged like it was no big deal, "He lied about everything, and he wasn't even good at transferring his heart to another vessel. He did start the war; I'll give him credit for that."

"So…" Xion had no idea how to respond to that. She was never that relaxed when she learned she was being used.

"But he wasn't even aware, I was using him."

"Now I know you're mentally insane," Xion said, Xigbar was con artist, but Xehanort was **the** Schemer. He had back up plans, his back-up plans had back-up plans. Never in a million years could Xigbar outwit Xehanort, "The shock of being recompleted must have scrambled your brains. I admit, it sucks not having a keyblade. There was a time I lost the ability to wield it and I was so depressed, but I-…"

Xigbar held out his hand. A flash of blacklight appeared in his palm, becoming something bigger. When it dimmed. The shock nearly knocked Xion on her back. In his hand, was not his arrowgun… it was a keyblade… It was Xehanort's keyblade…

Xion gently placed a hand on her keyblade and sent a small electrical current through it. Not enough for real damage, but enough to hurt… the pain was real… this wasn't a nightmare… Xigbar had Xehanort's keyblade… XIGBAR HAD XEHANORT'S KEYBLADE!

Xion opened her mouth. She had far too many questions, but the only word that came from her shocked expression was, "… How…?"

"Oh, the answer's a little complicated," Xigbar twirled it, "But the answer: It was mine long before it was Xehanort's."

"You're completely crazy," Xion screamed, "You're younger than him, he had it nearly his whole life!"

"Well, I wouldn't say younger, this body is getting a little worse for wear, but I'm not going to ditch it just yet. Do you know how long it takes to find a new body I like?"

Xion felt cold. Half of her was slowly starting to understand what he was saying, the other half was in absolute denial.

_It can't be… He can't be… there's just no way…_

"There's just no way," Xion roared as she launched herself at the man.

She felt cold metal on her neck, before she even knew it. She was on her stomach. Her right hand that clutched her keyblade was pulled back in a hold, and she couldn't dismiss and resummons it in position to stab Xigbar, because she was pretty sure if she did, then No Name would slit her throat.

He was never this strong before… _Or he's just been holding back._

Xion's mind raced, everything she just found out, Xigbar was keyblade wielder, possibly a master. Someone who had been transferring his heart to younger bodies to survive.

"How many?" The question just breezed out of her in a gasp. How many bodies, how many lives did he steal?

"Mmm… Don't know. Lost count five-thousand years ago."

The answer gave Xion the strength to fight, "Magic pulse."

Magic erupted from her body knocking Xigbar and his keyblade away from her. Xion flipped to her feet, in her fighting stance, "You couldn't possibly be doing this for that long. No one could. It would drive them insane."

"I've been around since before the first Keyblade War," Xigbar shrugged, "I saw the whole thing happen."

"Then why help Xehanort start another war? If you saw what the first one did, then you know it wasn't worth it!"

"Because it was my role."

"Your what?" Xion asked.

"My role, I have a master. Fun guy. He gave me and my fellow students roles, so we fulfilled them."

"And what was your role?"

"That's for me to know and you to find out."

"Now you decide to stop telling me your life story?" Xion asked.

"You know five months ago, this world went dark," Xigbar began.

"What about it?" Xion asked. The locals were calling it the Darkening.

"You haven't figured it out yet have you?" Xion hated when he smirked. It meant he knew something important, "The Keyblade Graveyard is right next door to this world. What happened there five months ago."

Xion blinked when the answer came to her: the Keyblade War. She remembered the darkness when Xehanort got the X-blade. The sky turned dark, the purple fire raining down. The darkness spreading… That's when Xion understood.

The Darkening was the very same darkness. It reached the Elemental Nations while Sora was fighting Xehanort. So, the terrifying darkness that was freaking the people out… was caused by their war… Oops.

Well, at least they stopped it before their world was destroyed.

"What are you doing here," Xion tried to change the subject. Trying to hid the fact she felt ashamed this world almost got destroyed by their mess.

"Well, my old friends came back," Xigbar said, "And we need something in this world."

That's when Xigbar summoned a corridor of darkness and vanished.

"Wait!" Xion tried rush forward to stop him from leaving, but he was gone before she got there. She dismissed her keyblade and ran.

She ran to another alley looking around. Sometimes the members didn't leave the area entirely. They'd duck into another hiding spot for observations. As Xion searched, she processed everything he told her.

Xigbar was a Keyblade Master… an ancient Keyblade Master… an ancient Keyblade Master, who's capable of out scheming the Schemer, Xehanort. Xion didn't know whether to be horrified or impressed.

She also thought through the situation. Her backstabbing, former member, who was also a Keyblade Master, had returned. Apparently not alone and needed something from this world. Was it Dawn City? Was he trying to stop them from bringing Sora back? No, no, no, no, no. Kairi would never get over it.

Xion stopped in the middle of an alley, her hands went to her head and ruffled her hair in panic as she screamed, "He's completely crazy! How do I stop crazy?"

"I've been asking that question for years."

Xion looked to her left. Standing there holding a book, was a man, wearing a mask, and leaf shinobi head band, covering his left eye. However, she was more preoccupied by the fact that the headband that proved he was a ninja.

Xion mentally panicked as she thought of what to say.

_I am totally a keyblade wielder from another world._ No that's a horrible idea.

_Hello, Mr. Ninja, who I recognize because I'm from this world too. _Put that in the maybe.

_Did you see a one-eyed psycho go through here? _Wait, he might take that as an insult since he had one eye.

Ugh. What was with her? Maybe she was freaking out because of Xigbar. She just needed to leave.

"Well…" Xion said awkwardly, "Bye." She turned around and began to walk away.

"Hold on."

Xion froze when he spoke. She turned around forcing a smile, "Um, can I help you?" Don't tell her he somehow saw her conversation with Xigbar and saw her keyblade. Xion was panicking in her head.

"Have you heard about the landslide in the next village over?"

"What about it?"

"It was frozen, before it could cover the village and kill everyone," the ninja said.

"Oh. I think I did hear that," Xion said playing dumb. _Oh joy,_ the ninjas were investigating her ice spell.

"Do you know any reason why it was frozen?"

"Oh…" Xion said, "Maybe it was a freak accident of nature?"

"Maybe, maybe it wasn't."

"Well," Xion shrugged trying to stay calm, "I can't possibly know about it, I wasn't there," Xion lied. She needed to get this guy off her back and find Kairi. They had to get to Dawn City before Xigbar!

"Hmm…" The ninja just stood there for a minute. Xion had no idea what he was thinking. The only thing about his face she could see was his right eye. Was he onto her? Did he know she was a keyblade wielder? Was he going to attack?

"Oh well," he shrugged, "Thank you for your time." He then turned around and walked away. Xion released the breath she didn't even know she was holding. She turned around and ran to look for Kairi.

As Kakashi walked away, he glanced at the girls back. He hadn't been surprised in a long time. He was just taking a small break, walking down an alley, reading his book. When a petite teenage girl bolted in front of him and screamed to the heavens. On any other day, Kakashi would just assume she had a bad break-up. However, he didn't sense the girl coming. Civilian or ninja, he usually could sense someone, but not her.

Kairi sat on the hill overlooking the town. It was such a pretty view, peaceful. She was also sitting next to a tree, so she wasn't surprised when she heard birds chirping. She looked up and saw two small birds.

She recalled some of the stories of how other princesses of heart were capable of talking and befriending animals. Shame Kairi couldn't. Maybe she could ask them to help her find Dawn City.

She looked back toward the town. What would Sora do if he saw this view? He'd probably get excited like a little kid and say something adorable.

_Look at this view!_

_ Are there really ninjas here? Cool, let's go find some!_

_ I'm not going to let a bunch of ninjas beat me, bring it on._

Kairi smiled, but it quickly fell. She missed him. She missed him so much. She didn't just miss the things she liked; she missed all the things that drove her nuts. Like taking a nap when he was supposed to be working on the raft or getting distracted when he had a job to do.

Where was he? Was he just floating in a void somewhere? Was he asleep, or was he awake, aware of the passage of time? Was he lonely? Was he trying to find his way home? What kind of question was? Of course, he was.

Was he thinking of her?

Kairi recalled the stories about the other princesses of heart. How the all seem to just find their soulmates and lived happily ever after with them. Why couldn't that happen with her?

She heard birds chirping up in the tree next to her, she also recalled the stories of how the other princesses could communicate and befriend animals. Ven said a mouse sewed Cinderella's dress; if only they could do her homework.

It was nice and peaceful, Kairi thought she could just close her eyes and find her center. She felt words rising from inside her. She also felt music. She also heard that the other princesses were singers. Oh, well she was alone any way.

She took in a deep breath and gave life to the words that seemed to be floating from her heart.

_Flower gleam and glow_

_Let your power shine_

_Make the clock reverse_

_Bring back what once was mine_

Images from the war began to flash into her mind. Her being attacked by Xehanort.

_Heal what has been hurt_

Sora calling out her name in despair.

_Change the fates design._

_Save what has been lost._

Sora sitting next to her on the tree.

_Bring back what once was mine~_

Then he faded away from existence

_What once was mine~_

_Sora._

Clapping made Kairi's eyes shot open, stand up and look towards the source of the noise. Standing not ten feet away, was another girl. With short pink hair. Where did she come from?

"I'm sorry," the girl said, "That was a beautiful song, I didn't mean to scare you."

Kairi looked at the stranger, "Who are you."

"My name's Sakura," the girl approached Kairi. As she got closer, Kairi saw that, what she originally thought was a hair band in the rosette's hair, had a hidden leaf symbol on it.

"Are you a ninja?" Kairi asked.

"Oh yeah," Sakura placed a hand on the red hair band. Kairi took a step back, "Oh don't worry, I'm a nice ninja, from the leaf."

Kairi recalled the journal, the last "nice" leaf ninja's that met the keyblade wielders, attacked them unprovoked. Kairi just needed to play it cool.

"Any way I heard you singing, that was beautiful."

"Thanks," Kairi said, "I'm just killing time, till my sister finds me."

"You have a sister?"

"Yeah, Xion," Kairi lied, "I came up here, because I like the view."

Sakura looked at the view of the town, "I can see why."

"So, what is a leaf ninja doing away from her village," Kairi asked, "Or is it a, 'if I tell I'll have to kill you,' thing. Because if it, don't tell me."

"I take it you've never met a ninja before," Sakura asked with an awkward smile.

Besides Yuffie, "No."

"We're investigating the landslide that got frozen," Sakura explained. Kairi felt a lump form in her throat.

She swallowed it before speaking, "Is it such a bad thing? I mean, those villagers are alive."

"It's not a bad thing, but it is strange, and let's not forget about the Darkening."

"That's… the day the sun went out right?" Kairi heard about it. A lot of people were going nuts over it.

"That's right," Sakura nodded, "It might have something to do with that."

"Well…" Kairi tried to imagine what might cause an unknown solar eclipse, "Maybe a giant meteor, flew between the planet and the sun and it was so big, it blocked the sunlight as it flew by."

Sakura just started to laugh, "You really think so?"

"Well, what do you have a better theory?" Kairi asked teasingly.

"I guess not, but that doesn't explain the giant light beam," Sakura said.

"I can only handle one weird thing at a time," Kairi shrugged. Sakura laughed again.

"So, do you live here?" Sakura gestured towards the town.

"No, I'm traveling," Kairi said, trying to be as vague as possible.

"Really, where are you going?"

Kairi thought for an answer as fast as she could. She couldn't really tell Sakura she was going to Dawn City… or could she. If the keyblade was a myth, maybe she'd pass it off as a joke. No time to think about it, Kairi just said the first thing that came to mind.

"Would you believe me if I said I was going to Dawn City?"

Sakura didn't respond at first. Kairi began to panic, did she suspect something. Did Master Erica's last visit make Keyblade Wielders a target.

Kairi was answered by more laughter, "Your funny. I get it, it's none of my business," Sakura took a breath, "What is it with Keyblade Wielders today?" Sakura suddenly asked.

Kairi stiffened at the question, "What do you mean?"

"I mean, a little girl said that a keyblade wielder froze the avalanche," Sakura laughed, "I'm sure it was just a dream though, the imagination of a kid."

"Yeah, imagination," Kairi noticed that Sakura brought up the keyblade after she mentioned Dawn City. So, Dawn city was part of the keyblade myth here?

"Honestly, I really wish we could finish this mission," Sakura said.

"Not enough action for you?" Kairi asked.

"No, it's just…" Sakura looked down, her eyes held sadness, and something familiar to Kairi, "Never mind."

Kairi thought she should leave. The logical side of her told her to leave this ninja alone, to play it safe; but Kairi recognized the pain in Sakura's eyes. She felt it herself. Kairi couldn't leave someone with the same pain as her, she just couldn't.

"Do you like ice cream?"

"Huh?" Sakura asked.

"Ice cream, or do ninja's have a super strict diet?" Kairi asked.

Sakura smiled, "Yes ninja's eat ice cream."

"Well, earlier I found a shop that sells my favorite type of ice cream. Ice cream always makes me feel better. If you want, I'll get you a bar, or are you too busy?"

"I think I can spare an hour," ice cream did sound nice, and Kairi seemed nice. So the two went back to town.

"I hate this stupid mission," Naruto grumbled. Not just because this mission was beneath a ninja of his caliber, but because he needed to find Sasuke as soon as possible.

Every person he talked to, said the same thing, they had no idea what caused that landslide to get frozen. There were chakra trails at the sight, no footprints, no nothing. Why were they investigating this freak accident anyway?

They had bigger things to worry about, like Orochimaru and the Akatsuki. Maybe the Darkening too, but nothing bad happened because of it and it happened months ago, so that wasn't Naruto's priority anymore.

He thought back to the story about the Keyblade Wielders. Powerful warriors from another world. He couldn't help but imagine what one would like. They'd be huge, muscular, god-like strength and power. Maybe they could fly.

"Kairi, where are you," a petite girl in a black dress shouted as she ran down the street.

Naruto felt his stomach growl, so he got up. This town had to have a ramen shop somewhere.

"This is salty," Sakura commented after taking a bite of the ice cream, "Yet also sweet."

"Yeah," Kairi agreed, "My friends got me hooked on it."

The two sat on the bench in the street, eating sea-salt ice cream. Sakura couldn't help but relax. She hardly ever got to relax on mission. She looked at Kairi as she ate her ice cream. She was so small and petite. She almost looked like a pixie. Sakura had never seen a dress like hers before, it was different from the clothes she mostly saw on her travels. Her boots covered her entire foot, even her toes. Didn't her feet get hot?

"So where are you from?" Sakura asked.

"I'm from a small cluster of islands, in the ocean," Kairi said.

"Oh," maybe everyone there dressed differently.

"Thanks for the ice cream," Sakura thanked Kairi for her kindness.

"No problem," Kairi said, she had finished her ice cream and was looking at the stick. She stared at it for a while. Her face fell into a frown, she looked worried.

"What's wrong?"

Kairi was silent for a minute, then she finally answered, "I'm looking someone."

Sakura looked at her. She was looking for someone.

"Someone, who's very important to me," Kairi confessed.

The way she spoke, the look in her eyes, Sakura knew the emotion. She felt it every time she thought of Sasuke. So, this girl also lost someone she cared about.

"What are they like?" Sakura asked.

"He's…" Kairi began to smile, "He's a goofball. He's a lazy bum. Every time we had a huge project he'd go hide and find a place to nap. He acts like a kid, he sees anything remotely new and he gets excited over it," Kairi began to laugh. Sakura smiled.

"He sounds like a certain knucklehead I know," Naruto suddenly flashed in his mind.

"I know he doesn't sound dependable," Kairi said, her expression becoming softer, "But he is. He's the most reliable person I know. Every time someone was in trouble, he'd help them… Every time I needed him, he was there…"

"He sounds nice."

"Sometimes, he's too nice for his own good," Kairi put the popsicle down, "It's my fault he's lost."

"Hey, don't say that," Sakura comforted, Kairi looked like she was about to cry, "I know how it feels to lose someone, to think that if you'd been better, they would still be here," Sakura remembered the night Sasuke left. She kept thinking it was her fault he was gone, "I also know, it feels like there are times where there are nothing to do except cry, but crying doesn't solve anything. You can find him. You just need to be strong."

"Thanks," Kairi smiled.

Sakura smiled. She was just about to talk to her some more, when she saw something further down the street. Black, she turned her eyes further from Kairi and her heart stopped. She just saw the trail of a black coat with red clouds vanish behind a building.

"Kairi, where are you?" A voice called from somewhere.

"That sounds like Xion," Kairi stood up, "I got to go."

Sakura felt relief when Kairi started to go in the opposite direction of the black coat, "Okay, it was nice talking to you."

"You too," Kairi said before running to find her sister.

Sakura got up and ran towards where she last saw the coat. The Akatsuki was here? Were they here for Naruto, another Jinchuriki? She had to find out.

Kairi turned the corner to find Xion, racing towards, "Xion slow down I'm not going anywhere."

Xion reached Kairi and stopped, "We need to go!"

"What? Why?"

"I'll explain everything at the inn," Xion grabbed her hand before running, "Come on."

**The return of Xigbar!**

**New Kingdom Hearts game coming this winter. It makes me do the happy dance.**

**But it also means it will throw a wrench in this stories idea.**

**Well, it's fanfiction, no one cares if it's accurate or not.**


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 5: Hot Springs Girl Talk

"Xion slow down," Kairi said to the other girl as she paced the room. Xion had explained what happened after they went back to the inn.

"Don't you understand? Xigbar is a keyblade master, has been a keyblade master the entire time! He's been using Xehanort to start a second keyblade war, and now he's here!"

"Xion," Kairi grabbed her arm, stopping her pacing, "Take a deep breath and tell me how any of what you just said, makes sense."

"None of it makes sense," Xion pulled away, "It wasn't supposed to be like this, but nothing ever turns out how it's supposed to!"

"But why is he here?"

"He probably wants something from Dawn City too," Xion said, "Usually when we're on the same world, they're after the exact same thing we're after," Xion reminded, running her hands through her hair as she continued her panicked ramble, "Not to mention there are ninja's that cover their faces, and the Darkening was our fault, and the-…"

"Wait! The Darkening was our fault."

Xion stiffened at that statement.

"Didn't I mention," Xion's shoulders dropped, "The Darkness that swallowed their sun, it was caused by the Keyblade war we took part in."

"What?" Kairi asked confused.

"Did you forget, this world is right next to the Keyblade Graveyard. Darkness can spread through the realm between to other worlds. It would only make sense that this world might have felt the edge of the war," Xion then let out an awkward laugh before leaning against a nearby wall, because she remembered at the beginning of the war she was one of the thirteen darkness's, "I'm a despicable human being."

Meanwhile

"Where'd they go?" Sakura combed the town but couldn't find the Akatsuki. She knew she saw them and tried to follow them, but they vanished right after she Kairi left. Sakura had to take in the fact the Akatsuki were made up of elite ninja. Orochimaru used to be a member, and Itachi was still a member; and he (loathed she was to admit it) made Sasuke look like a toddler in comparison. It would make sense they noticed a tail, and either lost her, or _she_ was now being followed. Which was why she was walking through a crowded street. She needed to find a way to be sure before she met back up with Naruto.

A hand landed on her shoulder.

Her reaction: pull out a kunai ready to stab who it was that approached her from behind. Another hand halted her wrist.

"That anyway to greet your sensei?"

Sakura relaxed greatly; it was Kakashi. She turned to face the Jonin.

"I take it, you ran into someone who wasn't friendly?"

"I met a nice girl earlier," Sakura whispered the next part, "But after that, I know I saw the Akatsuki."

Kakashi didn't react at first, "I met a strange girl today. Let's go find the rest of the team."

"Right," Sakura nodded.

Kairi watched Xion lean on the wall in despair. The redhead herself couldn't help but feel bad as well. She was one who got caught. She was the last piece to the X-blade. Xehanort used her to forge and went mad with power… She endangered this world.

"I hear what you're saying Xion," Kairi began, "but we can't just leave right now."

"Why not?" Xion groaned in despair.

"That's exactly what Xigbar wants, to scare and confuse us. To make us, make a mistake," Kairi explained, "I mean it's Xigbar, he lives to watch us squirm."

"True," Xion stood up straight, pulling herself out of her funk.

"Besides," Kairi said, "He may not know anything. He wouldn't antagonize us if he did."

"I worked with him Kairi," Xion sighed, "I'm more than aware of how twisted he is."

"Well, we need to be calm, all the same," Kairi reminded, "We'll stay the night to rest, then we go to the Deadlands."

"But we-…"

"We're not doing ourselves any favors running across the country without any rest," Kairi reminded, "You think I don't want to go? To find Sora as fast as possible? I do, more than anything, but the last time I jumped into something I wasn't ready for, it cost me everything. We need to be careful."

"I guess you're right," Xion sighed, "I just… don't get why he's doing this. I thought he did this because Xemnas made him, but now… I don't even know what he wants. He said, it's his role."

"Role?"

"He didn't exactly explain that part. All I know is, he was willing to let everything get destroyed, who knows what else he's capable of?"

"I know, but we'll figure it out. One step at a time, that's the best thing we can do now," Kairi said.

Xion nodded reluctantly.

"Well…" Kairi sighed, "Who wants to take a bath?"

"The Akatsuki are here?" Naruto nearly fell off his seat.

"I know what I saw," Sakura said, she didn't think Naruto didn't believe her. It was more like she was convincing herself. She really didn't want to run into the Akatsuki unprepared. They were all strong in their own right. She only managed to defeat Sasori, because she was prepared with the antidote.

"If they're here we need to send word," Sai was sitting in the corner of the room, painting. Probably, painting a messenger hawk that would deliver what Sakura saw.

"Why would they be here?" Yamato asked.

"Possibly, the same reason we're here," Kakashi thought, "They want to investigate the ice as well."

"Why would they care?" Naruto asked.

"Maybe they think it will lead them to a Jinchuriki?" Yamato speculated.

"Whatever the reason, they're here and we can't ignore them," Kakashi said, "Tomorrow we'll head out and look for them, no one will travel alone."

"Tomorrow?" Naruto griped, "Let's go get them now!"

Sakura rolled her eyes and left the room, she wanted to take a bath in the hot springs. Mentally she went over the Akatsuki members that she knew and were still alive. Itachi was one of them; former heir of the Uchiha clan. He mastered his sharingan, even better than Kakashi. He had mangekyo sharingan. A genjutsu mastery unlike any she had ever seen. She wasn't fond of the idea of fighting him, but she also wanted to beat him to a bloody pulp. For murdering Sasuke's family and hunting Naruto like an animal. The one who hurt her team the most.

Kisame, one of the seven swordsmen of the hidden mist. He had giant sword that ate chakra, and he was blood thirsty as a shark. She never fought him personally, but he was Itachi's partner. If she was ever going to fight Itachi, odds where she was going to fight Kisame too.

The other member was supposedly dead, but she wouldn't put it past the Akatsuki to fake their deaths. Deidera, a self-proclaimed artist. More like lunatic. He used detonating clay, to make sculptures that blew up when they were in range of an opponent. Dealing with a demolition expert was not an easy thing to do, not to mention one that got off on his own explosions.

Whenever Sakura tried to imagine the members she didn't know, she used Orochimaru as a reverence. Sick, twisted, no regards for human life. Sasori certainly fit that bill, she was almost surprised he and Orochimaru weren't friends. However, that was how she saw the Akatsuki, monsters, inhuman beings with no regard for who gets hurt.

She needed to stop them. She needed to save Naruto and her village… Maybe if she killed Itachi, Sasuke would come home.

After getting undressed. Sakura stepped into the spring. The warm water relaxed her muscles and she couldn't help but stretch. It all felt so good. Sakura looked around, it looked like she was the only one in the giant bath… That's what she thought until she saw someone through the steam.

She squinted and got a better look. Then she smiled. Sitting against the rim, with a towel wrapped over her hair was Kairi.

"Kairi?" Sakura made her way across the spring to the girl, "Kairi is that you?"

The girl almost looked like she was sleeping, not that Sakura could blame her. The spring felt nice, but it wasn't a good idea to fall asleep in the bath. Carefully, she lightly tapped her shoulder. Her eyes opened in shock.

"Good you're awake," Sakura said, "You shouldn't fall asleep in the bath, Kairi."

The girl looked at Sakura and blinked, "Who are you and how do you know Kairi?"

Sakura felt a tic. What did she mean 'Who was she?' They just met earlier?

**You got some nerve, just cause you're so cute, you think that-**

"Sakura?" Sakura froze when a familiar voice spoke her name behind her. She turned to see that entering the giant tub was… Kairi? Wait. Sakura looked back at the girl she was just talking to, only to see her remove the towel from her head; to reveal a black, pageboy haircut.

"I didn't know you were staying here too," Kairi approached the two, "Xion this is Sakura, the girl I told you about."

It finally clicked in Sakura's head when Kairi called the girl, Xion. This was her sister, her twin sister. Sakura felt a little embarrassed.

**Cha! You could have told me; she was your twin!**

"Oh, you're that ninja she told me about," Xion gasped in surprise, "I'm sorry if Kairi bothered you. She can be a bit annoying sometimes."

"You're one to talk," Kairi snapped.

"Oh, she didn't bother me today," Sakura said.

"You sure, I'd hate to think she interrupted your mission," Xion said.

"She didn't, I was done," Sakura explained.

"Seriously, Xion, what do you take me for?" Kairi asked as she moved to sit next to her twin. It gave Sakura a chance to look at them as they sat next to each other. They really did look alike. Except for the hair, one of them must have died her hair so that people could tell them apart.

"Do you mind if I join you?" Sakura wanted to get know Xion.

"I don't mind," Kairi said.

"I guess I don't mind either," Xion then shot her a glare that wasn't at all scary, "But no funny business ninja."

Sakura laughed a little, "Okay, I won't."

Sakura sat between them as she relaxed into the bath.

"The stars are beautiful," Kairi said. Sakura looked to see that Kairi was staring at the night sky. She glanced at Xion and saw she was doing the same thing. So, Sakura looked up into the night sky. The stars were beautiful. The sky was clear and there wasn't a moon that night. One could see all the sparkling lights glimmering in the sky.

_They came from beyond the stars…_

The line from the keyblade myth surfaced in her mind. That little girl and Kairi's joke about Dawn City, must had made her think about that line when she looked at the stars. It was silly, but fun, to think that there were other beings from beyond the stars, guarding different worlds.

"Seriously," Naruto's voice shouted from the men's bath, "What is it with you and balls."

Kairi and Xion looked at the wall in shock and a some of the other women giggled.

"Did he seriously just shout that?" Kairi asked.

Sakura felt her face go red with embarrassed frustration. What was wrong with Naruto?

"You know," Xion said, "Boys say girls are complicated. But I don't think that's true, I think they're just too simple."

"Agreed," Kairi said.

"Also agreed," Sakura said.

"I mean, I'm not complicated," Xion continued, "I like ice cream, dogs, and seashells."

Sakura wondered for a second, what would Xion think of Pakkun or Akamaru.

"And there are two things I hate most in the universe," Xion continued, "Arrogant men and snakes," Xion then shivered a little, "Actually an arrogant snake man would be really horrible!"

"You're an excellent judge of character Xion," Sakura complimented when a certain Sanin came to mind.

"This place has been nice," Kairi said, "I'm starting to think Aqua was wrong."

"Aqua?" Sakura asked, that was strange sounding name.

"Our friend," Xion said, "We live in a very remote… location. She said the outside world wasn't safe. That ninja's hated things and people they didn't understand, and we shouldn't come here."

"Oh," Sakura wanted to disagree, but she couldn't deny it. While it was an era of peace. The nations were just waiting for one or the other to slip up in something, for an excuse to attack. This Aqua, must have known that, and wanted to keep Kairi and Xion safe, "She, isn't wrong."

Kairi and Xion looked at her, "There are a lot of dangerous ninja out there, who don't like strangers," Sakura was ashamed to admit that she used to be like that. She treated Naruto so badly as a kid… For what? Because her mom didn't like him? For something that wasn't his fault?

"Why do people have to judge each other before they know each other?" Kairi asked. Sakura wished she had an answer. Suddenly water splashed on both of them.

"Stop saying depressing things," Xion said after her splash, "We're in a nice hot bath, under a beautiful star filled sky, enjoy it."

The three laughed then they enjoyed the springs. After a while, Xion got up.

"Come on Kairi, we gotta get up early tomorrow."

"I know," Kairi got up to leave.

"What's tomorrow?" Sakura asked.

"We're leaving to find our friend," Kairi said.

Sakura couldn't help but feel a little sad. These girls were nice and funny, and they were leaving. On the other hand, the Akatsuki were in town, and she didn't want them caught up in whatever horrible plan they had.

"I guess it's good-bye then."

"I guess so," Xion said.

"It was nice meeting you," Kairi smiled, "I hope you find your friend too."

Sakura smiled in gratitude.

Kairi rolled out the futon's to sleep on, while Xion looked out the open window at the stars, they really were beautiful. The flapping of wings caught her attention and she saw a crow perch on a tree near the window. She could see in the dark that it had red eyes. Xion lifted her eyebrow, _That's a big crow. Are they all that big on this world?_

"Xion time for bed."

"Okay." Xion closed the window, instantly forgetting the bird.

**You wondered which Akatsuki were in that town. Well, I think the crow speaks for itself. A certain Uchiha is making an appearance next chapter. It's going to be difficult, on one hand Xion is a really powerful keyblade wielder and Kairi is going to strut her stuff soon. On the other hand… Itachi… Do I have to explain it?**


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 6: Erica's Message

Sakura dried off and got dressed. It was nice, just talking to a couple of girls, like a normal teenager. It wasn't like Sakura didn't have friends. She had plenty, but it was nice talking about something other than ninja training. Kairi and Xion were nice, she wondered if she'd ever see them again?

The Akatsuki flashed through her head. She hoped Kairi and Xion would leave soon. The Akatsuki and Orochimaru always took good, innocent people and put them through horrible suffering. She prayed that would never happen to Kairi and Xion.

Sakura felt her eyes getting heavy. She was tired. She could practically hear the futon calling her. However, her relaxed state began to shift into a state of panic when her vision blurred and felt her legs getting weaker.

_What?_

Sakura quickly leaned against the wall and heard thuds. She looked around to see customers and staff, falling to the ground unconscious.

Her body reacted before her mind even thought the word, 'genjutsu.'

"Release." Sakura formed the hand sign and flooded her chakra through her body. Strength returned to her legs and her drowsiness disappeared.

Sakura stood up and sprinted down the hall to where her team was.

* * *

"Sora! Sora where are you!" Kairi called as she walked through the darkness. She had to find him. He had to be around here somewhere. Where was here again? Where was she?

"You're noisy, aren't you?"

Kairi turned to the source of the voice. Walking towards her, keyblade scrapping the ground before her, was Erica.

"Master… Erica?" Kairi remembered.

"Just Erica," the blind woman corrected, "I always hated being called that."

Kairi remembered something else, "You're dead."

"Really, I didn't notice," Erica said, clearly in a sarcastic tone.

Then Kairi realized something, "This is a dream… I'm asleep."

"Exactly," Erica said, "You can't talk to the dead when you're still in the realm of the living. Right now, you're in the realm of sleep, sleep and death are closely related."

"Why are you here?" Kairi asked.

"I came to warn you," Erica explained.

"You already told me this world wasn't easy," Kairi reminded.

"I know, but it just got complicated for you."

"Are you talking about Xigbar?" Kairi asked.

"He is an issue we'll discuss another night, but not this one," Erica pointed her keyblade at Kairi, "No this is about the Akatsuki."

"That group of psycho's that are terrorizing this world?" Kairi asked. Xion showed her the pictures of the book she found about criminals. Calling them 'psycho's' actually felt like a compliment. One of their members killed people and turned their corpses into puppets!

"Two of them are currently in the inn you're staying," Erica deadpanned.

"What?" Kairi stiffened in terror.

"And one is Itachi Uchiha."

"WHAT!" Kairi screamed, "Oh my god, I gotta wake up and wake up Xion and- ow!"

Erica smacked her keyblade over Kairi's head like a cane.

"Calm down, they don't know anything about you or Xion. They're here for a Jinchuriki, that's also staying at the inn."

"A what?" Kairi rubbed her head.

"A person who was unfortunately chosen to host a demon inside them."

Kairi opened her mouth to ask question.

"No, they're not possessed and they're not evil monsters. Just unfortunately chosen by their country to be weapons of mass destruction," Erica explained.

"The more I hear about this world, the more I want to leave," Kairi mumbled. seriously, did no one value someone else's life?

"Amen to that child, but alas, our presence is needed," Erica said, "I screwed up."

"What do you mean?" Kairi asked.

"My fight with Madara," Erica said, "I won, but he survived. Now the consequences of that act of mercy, is going to backfire on you."

"Why would it?" Kairi asked, she Madara was most certainly dead by now.

"Madara started the Akatsuki," Erica explained, "And one of their fundamental rules is: If you see a keyblade wielder, you must kill them, no matter what!"

"Seriously?" Kairi whined.

"Seriously," Erica confirmed, "You don't have to anything, just stay asleep. They'll be gone by morning and your secret will be safe."

Kairi felt relieved, for a brief second, until, "What about the jin… Jin…" Kairi struggled to remember the word.

"Jinchuriki," Erica reminded, "And what about him?"

"What are they going to do him?" Kairi asked. Why were they going through so much trouble for this person.

Erica tilted, "It shouldn't matter to you. This is their world's problem. You're not supposed to meddle."

"I want to know the consequences of doing nothing," Kairi said, "You said they're treated like weapons, are they going to use them?"

"No, they're going to extract the demon," Erica explained.

"Oh," that didn't sound too bad. Until Erica spoke again.

"He won't survive though."

Kairi felt her blood run cold.

"No Jinchuriki can survive having their demon extracted. Only one survived, because a woman gave her life to resurrect him."

Kairi looked at Erica horrified.

"And… you just want me… to let it happen?"

"Kairi, this is a problem caused by centuries of war, you can't solve it in one month."

"I'm not trying to stop a war; I'm trying to save a person's life!"

"You'd be breaking the world order."

"If breaking the world order means letting innocent people die, then I'll gladly break it!" Kairi screamed. If Sora taught her anything, it's you don't let bad things happen. You put a stop to it if you can and she would be damned if she just let them kill someone who just had the misfortune of having a demon stuffed into them.

Kairi huffed, her anger causing her breathing to be erratic. She glared at Erica, waiting for her to condone her, reprimand her like the apprentice she was. Instead, Erica burst into laughter. Kairi did not expect that.

"I'm glad you said that," Erica finally calmed down to talk, "We need more wielders to think like that."

"Say what now?" Kairi asked very confused. Shouldn't a wise keyblade wielder of the past be telling her to follow her duty?

"That was a test," Erica said, "I'm a keyblade master, I give out tests. I needed to make sure you were someone who valued doing the right thing over the rules."

"So, you're not going to use, undead keyblade magic to make me comatose?" Kairi wiggled her fingers in the air when she said that, like a conjurer.

"Of course not," Erica said, "I'm going to warn you about the genjutsu."

"The what?" Kairi asked shocked.

"A genjutsu," Erica repeated, "Itachi is well versed in genjutsu; learned from his cousin, the best in his clan. You saw some raven's tonight, right?"

"Yeah?" She remembered seeing some outside the rooms window.

"Itachi summoned them to spread his genjutsu through the town. Nearly everyone has fallen asleep."

"I don't have chakra," Kairi reminded, "Why am I affected?"

"You aren't affected," Erica explained, "This type of genjutsu can't affect someone without chakra, you're naturally asleep."

Kairi sighed in relief.

"However, that doesn't mean Itachi can't put you under genjutsu."

"But I don't have chakra," Kairi repeated.

"That is true, and because of that, you're immune to most genjutsu. The sharingan however, is a special case. I am telling you from experience," Erica said, "During our fight with Madara, Tiberius got caught in genjutsu. They made eye contact. Tiberious got caught and it almost killed him. He didn't even remember after the fight. I was blind, so I was immune, I was the worst opponent for Madara," Erica suddenly unclipped the keychain on her keyblade, "Whatever you do don't make eye contact with Itachi," she held out her hand, and gave the keychain to Kairi, "Itachi has the Mangekyo sharingan."

"Monkey what?"

"That advanced sharingan you read in Tiberius's journal, Itachi lost a lot in his life, that gave him the Mangekyo. It grants him a genjutsu called Tsukuyomi; it makes the target suffered days of torture, when in reality only a single second goes by. Usually the targets fall comatose after a single attack," Kairi gulped, that did not sound fun. "Also, another one of his powers. If he closes his eyes, and starts crying blood, get out of his line of sight! Hide behind a wall, get in his blind spot, don't turn invisible! Stay out of his line of sight. One of his powers is called Amaterasu. It sets anything he sees on fire. The flame is black and won't go out until it burns away its target completely."

Kairi shivered. Yikes. She remembered what the journal said about the sharingan. She frowned. Did that freak, kill his family just to get a power boost? Sick!

"I know what you think of Itachi," Erica's tone, it was… almost defensive, "But he isn't what you think he is. You need to say this when you fight, 'This won't save him.' Say that exact line."

Kairi just glowered at the deceased master, "Why should I even speak to him? The only thing he's gonna get if I see him is a Blizzard to the face."

"Kairi…"

"He killed his clan," Kairi stated, "Was that a lie?"

"Well… no… but there's more to the story than that."

"I don't know what causes someone to kill their family," Kairi spat, "And I don't want to know!" He was murderer. He killed his family, only monsters did that and she should know. She was with Sora on his first adventure. She saw how horrible people could be, and those were the kind of people you stop!

"Kairi please," Erica said almost desperately, "You might be able to stop something horrible; you might stop history from repeating itself. I could have stopped it, but I didn't know the whole story."

"He's a killer! A monster! He-…" _jolt_ "… Is going to get no mercy from me!" Kairi blinked when she realized she was looking at the ceiling of the inn. She realized she had woken up. She frowned when she realized her throat felt dry; deciding she wanted some water she sat up.

_That was a weird dream._ She raised her right fist to rub her eye. She didn't realize she was holding something until, something metallic tried to slip out of her grasp. Her eyes widened as she quickly looked at what was in her hand.

Crumpled in her hand, was a black chain. At one end was a clasp, at the other was a black ivory looking charm. As Kairi stared at the keychain, she began to realize a few things… That wasn't a normal dream… There were dangerous ninja's in the inn… And they were going to kill someone!

Kairi remembered Erica's warning. How the Akatsuki was ordered to kill any keyblade wielder they'd find. Her eyes darted around the room looking for the enemy, as if they'd just appear and kill her. Ninja's were famous for hiding in the shadows and striking down an opponent before they saw them. Knowing that made the dark room, much scarier.

She forced herself to calm down when she also remembered Erica telling her that they didn't know anything about them… yet. And she didn't sense anything.

"Xion," Kairi whispered. As quietly as she could she crawled over to the other girl and started to shake her, "Xion wake up!"

"Mmm… I can still taste the salt…" Xion mumbled.

"Xion!" Kairi whispered a bit more harshly, "Wake up, now."

Xion mumbled as her eyes fluttered open, "Kairi… what time is it?"

"I don't know, it's late."

"Then why are shaking me? Go back to sleep," Xion tried to roll over in her futon to go back to sleep.

"Xion, there are Akatsuki, in the inn," Kairi ground out.

Xion eyes shot open and she sat up so fast Kairi half expected her to throw out her neck, "W-…" Xion quickly stopped herself from yelling in shock, before proceeding to whispering her shock, "What? Are you sure?"

Kairi held up her hand before dangling the keychain in front of her look-a-like, "Let me start from the beginning.

* * *

Sakura opened the door to her teams' room, just in time to see Naruto being helped up by Kakashi. Of course, the Jonin would be immune to the genjutsu's effect.

"They're here," Kakashi simply said as Sakura closed the door behind her.

"There's only member of the Akatsuki who can pull off a genjutsu of this magnitude."

Sakura narrowed her eyes. One name came from that description; Itachi. The infamous clan killer was there, and odds were, he was after Naruto.

Her hands tightened into fists. She had to be prepared, she had to stop him. For Naruto's sake and Sasuke's.

"What do we do?" Sakura asked.

"Clearly, they know we're here," Yamato said, "Sai, can you survey the area?"

The artist was already painting a series of rats. When he was done the paintings came to life and scurried away. Some squeezed into the walls, some climbed the walls and went into the ceiling, the rest went under the door to search the inn.

After a short while, all the rats came back and merged back into the scroll. Sai opened his eyes, "I couldn't locate them."

Everyone knew that didn't mean they weren't in the inn. Itachi was skilled at infiltration and odds were Kisame wasn't bad at it either.

"Guess we'll do this the hard way." Kakashi altered his headband to reveal his sharingan.

* * *

"So let me get this straight," Xion said, "Erica appeared in your dream and told you that the bad guys of this world are here; to abduct a person who had a monster stuffed into him, to take out the monster and kill the poor guy… and they put everyone in town asleep to do that?"

"Apparently," Kairi confirmed.

Xion sighed and visibly sagged, "Why can't anything just go smoothly for us?"

"I don't know," Kairi sighed.

"At least you got a new keychain out of it," Xion said. Kairi looked at the keychain. For keyblade wielders, keychains weren't just accessories, they could change the form and power of a keyblade. Finding them was rare. Although Kairi wasn't sure she wanted it. Black Ivory, was powerful, but the limit form caused blindness. Kairi didn't know how to fight like that.

"Okay, so how are we supposed to fight one of the most dangerous killers in this world's history?" Kairi asked.

"We don't." Xion stated simply. Kairi looked at her shocked.

"You want us to-…"

"I'm not saying we let them find the poor guy and kill him," Xion interrupted, "I'm saying we wake everyone up."

"Huh?"

"There are other ninja's here," Xion explained, "If we wake them up, they'll know the Akatsuki's here and will take action. I'm sure they can at least run them out of town or something."

Kairi looked at her like an idiot, "How are we supposed to do that?"

"Maybe if you use Esuna, it will work?"

"Maybe?" Kairi repeated.

"This is like an affliction," Xion thought about attacks that used sleep spells.

"Xion, we don't even know if Esuna can work on a genjutsu," Kairi said.

"Kairi it might work if you do it," Xion said, "You're the most powerful healer out of all of us."

That was true, as princess of heart, Kairi was the most skilled in healing. Kairi weighed her options. Fight an enemy she had no idea about, or try and heal the people of the town and hope they can beat him. Kairi didn't want to take the easy way out, but she didn't want to lose her chance at finding Sora. Kairi sighed, "Fine, but if this fails and the poor guy is kidnapped, we're saving him!"

"Okay," Xion sighed.

"I don't know if this will work though," Kairi said, "I've never healed an entire town before."

"It'll probably be more effective if you cast Esuna in the center of town."

"How are we supposed to get to the center of town?" Kairi asked, "This Itachi guy, has crows all over town. I don't know what will happen if they see us." They might tell Itachi or just be normal crows. Kairi didn't know how summoning worked on that world.

"We'll just try to sneak through the inn," Xion said, "We're tough, I'm sure if we're caught we can get away."

Seeing no other option Kairi nodded.

Xion took the lead; she opened the door just a crack and peered down the hall. There were indeed people asleep. Like they were just walking, and then suddenly collapsed. She didn't see anyone else though. That didn't mean no one was there. Ninja's were good at being sneaky.

Xion closed her eyes and opened her other senses. She had battle instinct, survival skills, hopefully that was enough to let her know when someone dangerous was coming.

She waved her hand towards Kairi, and the two began to sneak slowly and quietly down the hall. They pressed their backs to the wall and inched down.

Times like these were when Xion missed her powers as a Nobody. She could have opened her corridor of darkness and got to the center of town in no time. But ever since she was brought back, her connection to the darkness was severed.

They reached a corner. Xion stopped, she listened. Deafening silence was all she could hear. Slowly, she peered behind the corner. No one was there. She motioned that it was safe to go.

As they made their slow journey down the hall. Xion began to go over what she read about Itachi. He was strong. He killed his whole clan. He was really smart. His partner was a shark man named Kisame (another freak to worry about). And he has eyes that can read and copy peoples movement, as well as trap them within days of torture in a single second, as well as set them on fire with a glance… Why couldn't the people she ended up fighting be easy?

Xion stiffened, her instincts rang. Someone was coming!

She looked at Kairi and mouthed, 'Play dead.'

The two slumped against the wall, until they were in position. Kairi was sitting against the wall, her eyes closed body relaxed. Xion was sprawled onto the floor, like she collapsed. They didn't want to try and fight. So pretending to be affected by the jutsu was their best bet. Hopefully, they could pull it off.

Soon footsteps were heard. It took a conscious effort to not stiffen or open their eyes. Someone, awake had entered the hall.

Immediately, the footsteps came in their direction. Then stopped in front of them. Kairi could feel someone's gaze over her body. She heard someone get closer to her and squat down next to her.

She was about to open her eyes and fight when.

"Kairi, Xion, oh no…"

Wait. _Sakura?_

"Sakura, you know them?"

Was that the guy who was yelling about balls, in the hot springs earlier?

"I met them earlier. They're just civilians," Sakura's voice explained.

"I met this one earlier to." A man's voice said.

Met who? Was he talking about Xion?

Xion was currently having mental panic, _It's the one-eyed ninja. Why me?_

"I don't want them involved," Sakura's concerned voice sprang. Half of Kairi was touched her new friend cared, the other half was saying, "I can take care of myself."

"Yeah," The balls yeller said, "Other people shouldn't get involved."

"Alright," the man said, "You two take them back to the room for safety. We'll continue to search the inn.

"Alright Kakashi-sense," Sakura said, "Come on Naruto."

Kairi somehow managed to not react when she felt someone pull her onto her back and began to carry her away. Kairi decided to risk opening her eyes just a crack; she saw the top of Sakura's shoulder. As well as a blonde boy wearing an orange jump suit carrying Xion. That must had been Naruto.

She closed her eyes again and let Sakura carry her away.

Soon they entered a room. They were carefully laid on the floor. Kairi could feel the ninja's looking at them.

"They're kinda pretty."

"Naruto, now's not the time," Sakura snapped, "I release Kairi first."

Release?

"Release."

Kairi shot up when she felt a jolt run through her. It didn't hurt but it did feel weird, "What- what was…"

"Kairi, it's okay," Sakura put a hand on her shoulder, trying to calm down the read head.

"Sakura?" Kairi asked, "What's going on?"

"It's okay," Sakura repeated, "Everything is going to be okay, but you need to stay here."

"Yeah, we're going to save everyone here, believe it!" Naruto said. Kairi looked at him. She wasn't she liked being ogled while pretending to be unconscious, so she decided to ask.

"Are you the guy who was screaming about balls in the hot springs earlier?"

Naruto physically stiffened, while Sakura stifled a laugh.

"Dammit Sai," Naruto growled, as he turned around messing up his hair.

"Will someone tell me, what's going on?" Kairi asked feigning ignorance.

"Okay," Sakura began, "Listen and remain calm. There are dangerous criminals here in the inn."

"Dangerous, how?"

"Extremely dangerous," Sakura said, "They're called the Akatsuki. They're an organization full of horrible ninja's who hurt people. You can identify them, because they were black coats with red clouds."

Kairi went pale when she noticed something behind Sakura, "You mean, like him?"

Sakura and Naruto turned. Standing in the corner of the room… was Itachi Uchiha.

**Dum dum dum duhhh**

**It hurts me to write such horrible things about Itachi. He was amazing, wonderful, and did not get the love he deserved. (Burn in hell Danzo!)**

**Once again I must plan my next chapter. Because as I said before, Kairi and Xion must fight Itachi. ITACHI. UCHIHA!**

**I want them to struggle, not get destroyed completely!**


	8. Chapter 8

Some Fairy Tales are Real

Kairi quickly looked away from the man in the corner.

_Don't make eye contact, don't make eye contact!_ Remembering Erica's warning as well as the information from the book Xion photographed; Kairi refused to look at Itachi. If someone makes eye contact with the Sharingan they can be placed under a genjutsu. Which is mind control or hypnotism… Wait was she under the influence already? Kairi didn't know what to do or expect! Why did she have to run into a wanted murderer with the power to hypnotize people?

"Itachi!" Sakura growled.

"How long had he been there?" Naruto asked, quickly placing himself between Itachi and the girls. He didn't even notice that he wasn't there until Kairi pointed him out.

Sakura quickly stood and took a defensive position. Kairi quickly crawled over to Xion, who was still playing possum. She leaned down and whispered, "Itachi."

Xion's face flinched, telling Kairi she heard her. This just got infinitely harder.

"Kairi," Sakura said, "When we say 'go,' take Xion and run."

"What about you two?" Kairi didn't turn to ask. She couldn't risk looking into his eyes.

"We can handle this guy," Naruto growled.

Kairi could feel the hostility, the hatred, the darkness. They really hated this man. She did know he was a bad guy. He killed his entire clan, but the way they hissed his name, the wrathful growls… it was more personal.

Sakura pulled out her kunai, Naruto began to form the hand sign to create his clones.

"Kairi! Go-…" Sakura's voice suddenly halted. Her limbs ceased to move, like her muscles turned to ice.

"Wh-what the…" Naruto grunted.

"What's the matter?" Kairi asked. She risked a looked. She squinted her eyes and looked only at the two ninja's legs. They were still standing there, but they were trembling, like they were trying to move.

She also heard Itachi… moving.

"Para… paralysis… genjutsu…" Sakura managed to choke out in horror.

"Correct," Itachi said.

It wasn't the Tsukuyomi, but it was enough to halt them in their tracks.

Kairi looked back down at Xion. She swallowed the lump in her throat and gathered her courage.

"Do you enjoy picking on people who can't fight back," Kairi dared to speak, "That doesn't prove you're strong, it proves you're a coward!"

"Kairi don't…" Sakura tried to speak.

Kairi prepared herself mentally. If Itachi decided to attack her in spite, she might draw him away from Sakura and Naruto.

The steps ceased. Kairi listened, felt, smelled, anything but looked for Itachi's response.

"This doesn't concern you," he finally spoke. His voice was flat, emotionless, he actually sounded more hollow than Xemnas.

"When someone does something horrible, I make it my business," Kairi shot back!

"Horrible?" Itachi asked, "I made sure everyone in this town is unconscious. No one would fight; thus no one would get hurt."

"You're doing this so you can kidnap and kill someone! It doesn't matter if you keep civilians out of it!"

Sakura and Naruto's eyes widened. How did Kairi know that?

"It doesn't?" If Itachi was surprised by Kairi's knowledge he didn't show it, "It's a simple calculation, one life for hundreds."

"You can't measure lives in addition or subtraction!" Kairi stated firmly.

"It's just a jinchuriki," Itachi said, "They're meant to be used."

"They're people, not monster, not weapons!" Kairi snapped, "They shouldn't be sacrificed just because you think they should!"

"How naïve." Itachi began his approach.

"Leave them alone!" Kairi demanded. The plan to sneak out of the inn was useless now. There was no other choice. Kairi had to fight.

"Or what?"

"I'll make you leave them alone!"

"No…" Naruto grunted. He didn't want someone else to get hurt.

"I don't get the joke," Itachi said. The girl was small. He didn't sense any chakra coming from her or the other girl. As he took another step forward then stopped. Finally, he noticed, his sharingan wasn't picking up any chakra in her. He thought it was the distance and the possibility that she was a civilian, so he just didn't see what little chakra she had… But there was none!

Itachi's attention was now on Kairi, fully. He walked past Sakura and Naruto. Both struggled to move.

"What are you?" That's what they heard Itachi say, before something blurred past them and slammed straight through the wall in an explosion of wood and dust. Sakura and Naruto both blinked.

They both managed to get a glimpse of what sped past them. Itachi was being pushed back, by a small figure in black. It was what the figure was holding that had Sakura's mind whirring.

_No, it couldn't be. They were… just to fast and my mind played a trick on me, or I'm under a genjutsu._

In that glimpse, Sakura saw Xion, push back Itachi… with a giant key…

"Esuna."

Suddenly, the stiffness in their bodies faded. They turned just in time to see Kairi running out the door.

_This is bad, this is bad, this is bad!_

Kairi ran as fast as she could through the halls. Xion had disappeared through the hole, and she could hear explosions outside. She must had been fighting Itachi. Kairi ran, she had to meet back up with Xion and help her or use the Esuna on the whole town.

Kairi didn't have time to think it through. She would make her way to the town center. If she runs into Xion on the way, she'll help. But Xion was one of the strongest keyblade wielders and she did plenty of research on the dangerous criminals of that world. Hopefully she could at least fend him off until help could arrive.

Kairi zipped through the hallway and finally through the entrance of the inn. She looked around, just like everyone in the inn, the people in the streets were unconscious. No one was awake. She couldn't leave them like this.

"Okay, I think the center of town is-…"

"Kairi!" Kairi looked behind her to see that Naruto and Sakura had followed her outside, great.

"What is going on," Sakura said, "Xion was under a genjutsu."

"And she pushed Itachi through a wall," Naruto exclaimed.

"Um… well…"

"And I thought I saw… but…" Sakura shook her head, "What is going on?"

"Um…" Kairi searched her head for any excuse to get them off her back, "Look, we have bigger things to worry about here," she pointed to the unconscious people in the street.

"I see you woke one of them up," out of no where Kakashi and the rest of the team appeared.

"Um…" Kairi could only say. More ninjas? Why her?

"Kakashi-Sensei," Sakura said, "Did you find Kisame?"

"No, we haven't."

Kisame? Kairi vaguely remembered reading that name in the pictures Xion took. Kairi didn't have time to think about. The team of ninja's were conversing. At the moment they weren't paying any attention to her. She took small slow steps, backing away from them. When she felt she was a good enough distance, away from them; she turned to run. Only to slam into a larger body and fall on her butt.

"Why don't you watch where you're going?" Kairi looked up at the source of the gruff voice. Her eyes widened. Towering over her was a… shark man? A shark man wearing an Akatsuki coat.

"Kairi!" Sakura's voice shouted.

"Well that was rude," the shark man sneered, "Bumping into someone without apologizing."

Before Kairi could snap at him, he grabbed the handle sticking out from behind his back. And lifted it to reveal a giant, bandaged sword. Kairi quickly realized what was about to happen. As she prepared to create a barrier, through her panic filled mind, she wondered why guys had to have such big sword: Leon, Cloud, Terra. Aerith once said, that they were compensating for something. But for what?

The man was about to bring the sword down, Kairi was about to raise her barrier when a black blur ran past her. Pushing the shark man back several feet before stopping. Showing that the black blur, was Xion. Her keyblade was locked with the shark man's sword.

"Xion?" Kairi stood up, "What happened to Itachi?"

"I don't know, he disappeared on me!"

"Well," the shark man said, looking at Xion's weapon, "This is interesting. Apparently that rule wasn't joke after all."

"I knew it, we weren't hallucinating!" Naruto's exclamation made Kairi stiffen and Sakura paled.

She looked at the scene in front of her. A girl, who was smaller than her, was wielding a weapon, that wasn't supposed to be real, was holding her own against an Akatsuki member. She blinked. The scene was still there. She pinched herself. It hurt, she didn't wake up or snap out a genjutsu.

"Naruto," Sakura said, "Hit me. I'm still under a genjutsu." That had to be it. That was the only way for any of this to make sense

"Sakura," Naruto said, "You aren't under a genjutsu. Or at least I don't think we are… Are we having the same genjutsu."

Kairi began to awkwardly side step away, or at least tried to, when a hand landed on her shoulder, "And where are you going?"

She looked to see the ninja with a mask had his hand on her should.

"Um…"

"Kairi!" Sakura snapped out of it and ran in front of the red head, "What is going on? Why is Xion holding a giant key."

"Um…"

"How come you guys are acting weird?" Naruto then asked.

"Um…"

"Would you leave her alone," Xion shouted as she continued to lock blades with Kisame.

Kairi was surrounded. She was being held onto, asked questions, Xion was fighting a shark man; so many things were happening at once and all she wanted to do was find Sora.

Instead of feeling scared or nervous, she felt annoyed. Why were these people asking her questions when there was clearly something else wrong here? They continued to bombard her with questions, but she blocked them out as she felt her frustration grow, and grow, and grow. Until finally.

"QUIET!" Kairi released a loud frustrated scream, silencing the ninjas. Who took a step back from the frustrated girl. Kairi took in a deep breath before calling, "Xion, do you need my help?"

"No, I'm good!" Xion shouted before she jumped to a roof, followed by Kisame.

She took in another deep breath, before addressing the ninja, "I understand you have questions, but I don't have the time!" she summoned her keyblade, "Now if you'll excuse me." She pointed her keyblade down the road that lead towards the center of town, "Blizzard." Her ice spell shot down the road, creating a rail of ice in its wake. She leaped onto the rail and skated down it like a professional figure skater, leaving a team of stunned ninjas.

Sakura looked at the small rail of ice… ice! Kairi made a keyblade, appear out of thin air, then made an ice trail, and slid down it. Sakura was going what just happened, over and over in her mind, but she just couldn't believe it. Kairi, was one of the keyblade wielders of legend?

"I believe we discovered what froze the landslide," Sai simply said. Sakura was convinced that Sai's calm demeanor was due to his lack of emotions.

Naruto looked just as confused as her, even more so actually.

Captain Yamato was making his intimidating face Sakura assumed he was lost in thought. Kakashi-sensei, just blinked.

They were snapped out of their stupor when Xion shouted, "Firaga!"

They looked to see Xion shooting fireballs out of the keyblade, towards Kisame. Who dodged the flames easily.

Kakashi shook his head, this wasn't the time to be stunned by the impossible. They needed to get a grip on the situation and figure out what was going on.

"Yamato," Kakashi commanded, "You and I will help that girl fight Kisame." Kakashi didn't know who that girl was, but he did know Kisame was no friend. So, at least for now, they would help the keyblade wielder.

"Naruto, Sakura, Sai; follow Kairi, found out what she's doing," Kakashi commanded.

"Y-yes sensei." The three younger ninja's sprinted down the ice trail, after Kairi.

Kakashi looked at the wielder and Akatsuki member fight. He had heard of the legend before, but…

He watched as Xion pushed Kisame off, with her own strength.

… Keyblade wielders were cute little girls?

Kakashi decided now wasn't the time to question fairy tales.

Xion finally struck through Kisame; however, something didn't feel right. Her suspicions were confirmed when the swordsman turned into water.

Xion looked behind her to see Kisame about to crush her. Until he turned to block some kunai that were about to hit him. Xion summersaulted to a safe distance. The kunai ripped some of the bandages off the sword… If one could call it that.

"That spikey monstrosity is what passes for a sword on this world?"

"You have no room to talk," Kisame snapped.

Suddenly wooden poles shot from the ground trying to ensnare Kisame, who just swatted them down.

"This world?" Kakashi appeared next to Xion, along with Yamato, "So, I take the legend about keyblade wielders coming from another world is accurate."

Xion slightly stiffened. Her and her big mouth, "I'm trying to stay alive here. I don't have time for a Q&A."

"Do you want our help?" Yamato asked.

Xion asked, "Do you guys want to kill me?"

"No."

"I guess that's a good enough reason to accept your help for now."

Kairi slid down the ice as she scolded herself over what happened. How could things go so wrong, so fast? Of course, she knew they could go wrong, but never like this. The people of this world knew what a keyblade was, the local terrorists want to kill her, and she revealed her identity to a group of strangers! What was she going to tell Aqua?

Sakura was catching up to Kairi. Now she was wondering about the other parts of the keyblade legend. Other worlds, no chakra. Was Kairi from another world? Did she really not have chakra? There was also the small issue Sakura was forced to address; what she had to tell the Hokage when she went home.

_My lady, the reason the landslide was frozen, was because the fairy tale is true. Keyblade wielders are real!_

**She going to think I'm completely crazy!**

The only way to prove she was right was to get Kairi and Xion to come back with them to the village.

"Kairi," Sakura shouted. The wielder in question looked behind her, a flash of fear flashed through her eyes.

That brought some guilt to Sakura.

Kairi looked forward and shouted, "Leave me alone!"

"We have questions!" Naruto shouted.

"I don't have time," Kairi shouted, "I need to get to the center of town."

"Why?" Sai called.

"You wouldn't believe me!"

"Try us," Sakura shouted.

For a while Kairi was quiet, but she did answer, "I'm going to try and wake everyone up."

"Why?"

"There are other ninja's in this town and the Akatsuki are wanted criminals," Kairi said, "If the other ninja's wake up, they'll help you stop the Akatsuki."

That was her reason? She just wanted to help them.

"Kairi," Sakura called, "What are you?"

Kairi didn't answer.

"Are you really a keyblade wielder?"

Kairi remained silent.

"Are you from another world?"

No reply.

"Do you really not have any chakra?"

Still no reply.

Then a new question rose in Sakura's mind, "Do you know anything about the darkening?"

Kairi flinched. She did know.

"What do you know?"

"… I know it won't happen again," Kairi stressed, "So don't worry about it."

"What do you-…?"

"Fireball jutsu," The street was filled with flames as a large ball of fire crashed down on Kairi.

"Kairi!" Sakura shouted as the three pursuing ninjas stopped.

**Well, this feels like a good place for a cliffhanger.**

**I'm going to be honest, I liked the KH gang's KH 2 outfits better than their KH 3 outfits.**


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 8: Now What?

The flames finally stopped. Smoke filled the area, Kairi had to wait a few moments before she finally released her barrier that protected her. The sphere of hexagons vanished, before Kairi could do anything else. An arm shot through the smoke, grabbed her neck and forced her back. She dropped her keyblade in shock as her bodily was violently slammed into a building. Her eyes shot open in pain, she couldn't stop herself from looking into a pair of red eyes, with oddly strange irises.

The next think Kairi knew, the world had turned black and red, and she was falling. Falling through a red sky full of black clouds. She realized what had happened. This was the genjutsu. She panicked. She kept telling herself it wasn't real, but the way her body fell, the violent winds that whipped across her body. It all felt so real.

She landed, splashed down into water, she tried to swim up, but couldn't. A current was dragging her down. She couldn't breathe. When she thought she was going to drown, was when she was yanked somewhere else. She was now on solid ground. Kairi coughed, and looked up. Standing not to far away was Itachi.

Kairi stood up, "What did you do?"

"This is the Tsukuyomi," Itachi answered.

Kairi felt her blood run cold, Erica told her this was a genjutsu meant for torture. To make the victim suffer days of pain in a single second. Kairi forced her fear down and glared at him, "Let me out!"

"There is no 'out'," Itachi said. Kairi was falling backwards. As if gravity had shifted. Kairi let out a shriek as she splashed into another body of water. Once again a current dragged her down, causing her to suffocate. Kairi began to panic. If Itachi was going to keep doing this to her, there was no way she could last. Falling and drowning for days would break anyone. She'd be helpless and he'd kill her.

She tried to summon her keyblade, but to no avail. Was this genjutsu cutting off her keyblade?

As she sank into the dark waters, she looked up to the surface in despair. What was she thinking? Did she really think she could stronger? Why would this time be any different than the other times? Being kidnapped, being helpless, needing someone to save her.

Only this time, Sora wasn't there to be her hero.

_Sora_

Her face and words filled her mind. As she closed her eyes.

_ "Our hearts are connected."_

_ "I'll come back to you, I promise!"_

_ "Don't ever forget, wherever you go, I'll always be with you."_

"_Kairi!"_

Kairi's eyes shot open. That didn't feel like a thought. That sounded like Sora calling her! Was that part of the trick? Kairi was now falling through the false sky. But she didn't scream.

No, that wasn't an illusion. It was Sora!

How many times did Sora go through something terrifying? To save the world, to save her, to go back to her? Why should she give up? Sora wouldn't! He would fight.

Kairi focused on summoning her magic. Genjutsu was when a ninja used their chakra to control another person's chakra. Kairi didn't have chakra, but since the sharingan was a "special case," according to Erica, it still affected her. Itachi's chakra was influencing her. She had to wash it out with the only thing she had, magic.

"I get it," Kairi called out, "You're a big scary ninja. You're powerful, you can hypnotize people with a glance, and you're stronger than me," she finally felt her magic course through her, finally she was getting something, "But my heart, is stronger than yours," Kairi began to glow, color began to be restored to her, "Here's a free lesson. When someone has a keyblade, the strongest heart, will beat out the strongest body," she concentrated her magic in her body, compressing it, letting it build up, until it couldn't be contained, "Now get out of my head! Magic Pulse!"

A bright light ripped through the smoke, clearing it away for Sakura and her team to see, Itachi being pushed away across the street. On the other side of the street, was Kairi. She was glowing, but the light was fading. She was taking deep breaths. Her keyblade was on the ground, but it vanished in a flash of light before reappearing in her hand. She took a stance glaring at Itachi.

"So," Itachi began, looking unfazed, "It really does exist."

"Yeah, yeah," Kairi said, "I know all about your evil, organizations rule about killing keyblade wielders on sight."

"So, you know of that?"

"I know your founder was a sore loser," Kairi snapped. She took in a deep breath, "I'm not going to let you hurt anyone anymore."

"Neither are we!" In a puff of smoke, dozens of Naruto's surrounded Itachi. Which shocked Kairi. She also noticed some birds, that looked like living drawings circling in the sky.

Sakura ran up to Kairi, grabbed her hand and dragged her away from the fight.

"Sakura?"

"Just run."

Kairi didn't have time to argue so she ran. The pink haired ninja took her down several blocks before finally stopping.

"Why did you pull me from that fight?" Kairi asked, "I could have helped your friends."

Sakura looked at Kairi. Earlier, she thought Kairi was just a random civilian; now she didn't know who or what she was. However, they were up against the Akatsuki, Sakura was taking a huge risk letting Naruto fight with just Sai, so, she had to put her trust in Kairi.

"Can you really wake everyone up?" Sakura asked.

Kairi looked at her, "I… I'm not sure. I did break the genjutsu on you at the inn. But I never cast a spell on an entire town before."

Kairi reached into her pocket and pulled out a keychain. Sakura watched her replace the keychain at the end of her strange sword, which then changed it's shape.

Kairi changed her keyblades form, from Destiny's Embrace, to Ever After. This keyblade was probably the strongest magic based Keyblade she had.

"If there's any possibility of casting a spell over a town, this is the best form to take."

Sakura looked at the weapon in awe. How it changed from a flower like form, to tower that had a gold rope tied around it. She had a lot of questions, but she didn't have the time, "So, you want to go to the center of town, to cast your spell?"

Kairi nodded, "It's the best plan I could think of."

"Okay, I'll make sure you get there safely," Sakura said, nodded. Sakura was still afraid, but, the nice girl she found singing on that cliff. Sakura refused to believe, that the Kairi she got to know was a lie.

They ran towards the center of town, where there was a tall building waiting for them. Perfect, maybe with the height, the spell would have more effect. However, someone else was waiting. Standing in front of the building… was Itachi.

"Don't tell me he already beat your friends," Kairi said.

"No, I think this is a clone."

"A clone?" Kairi asked, "Like, what Naruto did?" She remembered how Naruto made so many copies of himself.

"That's right," Sakura nodded.

"I don't suppose, a clone is weaker than the original by any chance?" Kairi asked.

"Unfortunately, no," Sakura said, "The clone is just as strong as the original."

"He just thinks of everything, doesn't he?" Kairi asked.

"He was one of the best ninja's our village produced," Sakura explained.

"I'll have to go with my strength's then," Kairi said. Sakura looked at her confused, before her eyes widened as her form glowed. Kairi's dress turned blue, her keyblade's shape changed again, into a staff, Kairi even started to hover above the ground, "You gonna stare or fight?"

"I'll fight, can you draw his attention?"

"I'll try, even if I can break free of his sharingan, it'll take a second."

"I don't think it will be an issue. He can't use his Mangekyo too many times, but don't let your guard down."

Kairi nodded, before shooting forward. She flew towards Itachi, the ninja pulled out his shuriken. Before he could throw them, Kairi teleported behind him. Leaving a glowing after image. Kairi was just about to blast him, when he vanished. Kairi shot up into the air, avoiding shuriken. She flew towards Itachi, she teleported at random, to try and keep him guessing as well as to leave behind after images.

As she got to him. She swung her staff at him, like a blunt object, which he dodged by jumping into the air. Kairi smiled, that's exactly what she wanted him to do.

She turned and started to fire blasts of magic, as well as her glowing after image clones. The Ever After form change was a magic based transformation, giving the wielder magic attacks that were differed. One of them was creating after image clones that could also fire magic at an enemy for an omnidirectional attack.

Golden magic reigned down on Itachi. He couldn't dodge in mid-air, that's why Kairi lured him into jumping. When it was over, the target fell to the ground, but it wasn't Itachi, it was a log that was blasted instead.

"That was clever," Itachi's voice said before a kick was delivered into Kairi's back. She managed to recover mid-air a land on the ground.

"CHA!" Sakura fell from the sky, and with a single punch, she obliterated the street, Kairi rose back into the sky to avoid the collapsing road. She also made a mental note to not piss off Sakura.

"Did you get him?" Kairi called. Sakura stood up in the crater she made.

"No!" Sakura had just smashed a rock. He used the substitution jutsu!

"Fire style: Phoenix flower jutsu!" Sakura looked to see several flaming shuriken flying straight at her. She didn't have time to dodge.

Kairi appeared in front of her, "Reflect!" A barrier of light hexagons materialized around them, when the attack hit it, it bounced back at the Itachi, who dodged it.

"Are you okay?" Kairi looked back at Sakura.

"Yeah."

Kairi suddenly grunted. She fell to the ground her form going back to normal.

"Kairi?" Sakura asked in concern crouching.

"I'm fine," Kairi stood, back up, "My transformation just ran out with that barrier. His attack was stronger than I thought."

Sakura stood back up and glared at Itachi, "How are we supposed to beat him?" Sakura wasn't exaggerating when she said he was one of the most powerful shinobi her village had.

"We don't need to beat him," Kairi pulled out a blue bottle and started to drink it. She looked less tired when she was done. She held her keyblade, the tip began to glow radiated with magic.

Itachi raced forward Kunai in hand. He was about to attack Kairi, when Sakura got infront of him. Mistake. Itachi used his sharingan, and Sakura was caught in a genjutsu. He kicked her to the side, that didn't wake up Sakura from the illusion. Kairi needed one more second. Just one more, but Itachi was too fast.

_Say this exact sentence to him. _

Kairi remembered Erica's word. Kairi didn't have time to think it through, she opened her mouth. Itachi was about to stab her.

"This won't save him!"

Itachi's kunai stopped, one inch from her neck. For a single second, Itachi hesitated. That was all Kairi needed. She turned her keyblade towards him. Itachi jumped out of the way as Kairi released the spell from her keyblade. It rocketed out of the crater and into the sky. Itachi landed back on the edge of the crater.

"You missed."

Kairi, looked at him, and gave him a smug smile.

"That spell, wasn't an attack."

Itachi turned and watch the spell go up into the sky, and then it detonated. It released a bright light, that spread over the city.

Everyone saw it.

Xion froze another water clone. She stopped for a second when she saw the bright light in the sky. Kakashi looked up at the light, "What is that?"

Suddenly, there was groaning all around them. The people who were knocked out by the genjutsu, started to wake up.

"It worked," Xion shouted in relief.

"What did you do?" Itachi saw the victims of his genjutsu waking up.

"That spell, is called Esuna. It's meant to relief ailing status. Poison, paralysis, and sleep. I'm sure the other ninja's passing through here, would just love to know that two of their most wanted criminals are here," Kairi smirked.

Itachi turned and faced her again, "What did you mean, 'this won't save him?'"

"I don't know, Master Erica told me to tell you."

"Erica?" Itachi asked, "She's involved?"

Kairi's eyes widened at that question, "How do you know one of our masters?"

Itachi didn't answer, instead he disappeared in a puff of smoke. Kairi sighed. She turned her head when she heard Sakura grunt. She held her side as she sat up.

"Sakura!" Kairi ran to her, she held her keyblade in the air, "Heal."

The pain in Sakura's side vanished as a green light washed over her. She looked up at Kairi who held her hand out, "Are you okay?"

Sakura looked at the concerned red head, and smiled, "I'm okay," she took Kairi's hand and she helped her up.

Kairi smiled, "Thank you, you were great."

"Don't lie," Sakura sighed, "I'm useless."

"No you aren't," Kairi said, before gesturing towards the crater they were in, "You're crazy strong."

"You were better."

"Are you kidding?" Kairi said, "I wish I was this strong, and I didn't beat Itachi," Kairi looked down, "I just scared him away," Kairi then gasped, "The jinchuriki, I don't know if we helped them, we have to make sure they didn't get him."

"Sakura, Kairi," Naruto appeared at the edge of the crater.

"There," Sakura said, "He's fine."

"Naruto's the jinchuriki?" Kairi asked.

"You didn't know?" Sakura asked. Kairi shook her head.

"I was just told the Akatsuki wanted to kidnap and kill someone," Kairi said, "She didn't tell me who it was exactly."

Naruto and Sai slid into the crater. To meet up with the girls, everyone then looked at the weapon in Kairi's hands. When the red head realized what they were staring at, she dismissed her keyblade.

"Kairi," Sakura said as calmly as she could, "I think, you need to come back with us to our village."

Kairi's eyes widened as she took a step back, "I can't."

"Kairi, you're not in trouble," Naruto said, trying to calm her down, "We just need you to help us explain things to grandma Tsunadae."

"Who?" Kairi asked.

"He means our Hokage," Sai corrected.

"Hokage?" Kairi asked, then she remembered, "Oh yeah, that's your leader."

"Kairi," Sakura began, "We need to understand, and you're the only one who can explain it."

"I can't," Kairi said, how was she supposed to explain this? It was against the rules, it would destroy the world order, "I have… I need to… I just can't!"

"Kairi, please we-…"

"Sleep!" All three ninjas fell to the ground in front of Kairi. Kairi gasped, she didn't do that.

"Kairi," Xion appeared and grabbed her hand, "let's go!"

"Sakura… Sakura!" Sakura opened her eyes. She sat up when she realized she was in the crater, Kakashi sensei was next to her, "Are you alright."

"I'm… I'm okay," she still felt a little groggy, "What happened?"

"We're not sure," Kakashi said, Yamato and Sai were trying to wake up Naruto, "When all the others started to wake up. Kisame escaped. When we tried to talk to Xion, she said 'stop.' The next thing we knew, she was gone."

Sakura looked around when Kakashi talked about Xion. Kairi was not there, no keyblade wielders, only ninja.

Itachi and Kisame fled through the forest.

"To think, Keyblade wielders are real," Kisame grunted, "And here I thought that rule was some twisted joke."

"Apparently not," Itachi said. When he first joined the Akatsuki and was introduced to the rules, he was surprised by the rule that said; if a keyblade wielder is discovered they must be killed on sight. Surprised, not shocked, after all. He did remember that small story from his clan.

"Xion, I think we can stop now!" The two keyblade wielders ran all night. They ran until the sun rose. The finally stopped to rest.

Kairi leaned against a rock, Xion started to pace, "This is really bad!" Xion ran her hands through her hair, "They saw us, they saw our keyblade's. Now they're going to hunt us like animals."

"We don't know that," Kairi gasped.

"The ninja's I fought with, wanted to take us to their village for interrogation," Xion said.

"Did they want to interrogate us or ask us questions?"

"What's the difference?" Xion asked.

"Well, we did do something strange, and they didn't seem as terrified or scary as we thought they'd be."

"The shark man was plenty scary," Xion said.

"Besides him and the clan killer," Sakura frowned.

"Kairi, remember why we're here," Xion reminded, "We're here to find Dawn City. To find Sora. We can't risk anything," Xion sighed, "Maybe, they weren't going to hurt us. Honestly, they didn't seem all that bad to me either."

"So why are you so against this?" Kairi asked, even though she wasn't really sure what, "this" was.

"The world order," Xion reminded, "They know about the legend of the keyblade, they're going to ask questions we're not allowed to answer. They'll get mad and I don't want them to be mad at us."

Kairi remembered how Sakura destroyed an entire street with her bare fist, but she also remembered; how much fun she had hanging out with her.

However, she was there for Sora.

"So, now what?"

Xion took in a breath, "Full on sprint to the Deadlands. We stop for nothing and we talk to no one."

Kairi nodded.

Sakura stood int the Hokage's office. Her leader and teacher sat at the desk, waiting; not for a report, not yet. Kakashi had decided to get the rest of their friends. Team Gai, Team Kurinai, and Team Asuna.

"What's taking them so long?" Naruto whined.

Sakura's mind drifted back towards Kairi. Where was she? She remembered the scared look on Kairi's face when she asked her to go back to the village with them… Did she think they were going to hurt her?

_Aqua said the outside world is dangerous._

Were they afraid of them? Why would someone as strong as Kairi be afraid of them? She glanced back at Naruto.

_She said that ninjas didn't like things or people they didn't understand._

Maybe that was why. She hoped Kairi was okay. She wanted to talk to her again. Ask her about everything. Try to make her understand, that Sakura wouldn't hurt her, would try to understand her.

The door opened. Kakashi lead the other three teams in.

"It's about time," Naruto said.

"Alright, Kakashi," Tsunadae said, "I've let you bring them here as you've requested. Now tell us what you learned on your mission."

"Well…" Kakashi looked nervous, "That's a complicated question ma'am."

Sakura knew why he was hesitant to explain. Telling them that keyblade wielders is real is like saying Santa Claus was real. They'd either think that they were lying or crazy.

"What?" Shikamaru said, "Did you not find anything?"

"Oh we found something," Naruto exclaimed, "The Akatsuki was there, they placed a whole town under genjutsu."

"What?" Tsunadae asked, everyone listened intently to Naruto.

"But then just as we were about to get in trouble, we were saved, by keyblade wielders!" At Naruto's explanation, the room went silent for a second.

Kiba burst out laughing, "Right, let me guess, they summoned fairies to fight the Akatsuki, right?"

"Be honest," Shikamaru sighed, "You hit your head and hallucinated the whole thing, right? What a drag."

"Hey it's no big deal," Ten Ten said, "I believed in keyblade wielders too… When I was six!"

"Naruto's finally losing his mind," Ino said, "It must be hard on you Sakura."

Tsunadae sighed, "Sakura, what really happened?"

All eyes were on Sakura. She figured this reaction was going to happen. Now she had to try and convince everyone… Why her?

"Actually, my lady… Naruto is correct."

**The first update of the New Year. Happy New Year everyone!**

**I'm really bad at fight scenes!**


	10. Chapter 10

**The whole point of Fanfiction is to experiment. Also there might be spoilers from KH3 Re:Mind. I was right. There was a wrench**

Follow the Impossible

Ventus landed in Twilight Town. Terra basically made him. Something about Ven needing a small break. So Ven decided to go to Twilight Town, while Terra was continuing the search.

He'd take a few days to relax. Eat some of little chef's food, then get back to work. He had to find Sora. He was the one who saved him all those years ago and basically kept him safe.

He went to the bistro and ordered the fruit tar… he ordered the cake!

In the chair in front of him, Chirithy poofed into existence, "That looks good," the cat like creature commented.

"Yeah, it's a cake of some kind."

"It's a tart," Chirithy corrected.

"So it's a pie?" Ven asked. He hears somewhere a tart was a… fancy pie.

Chirithy just sighed and Ven laughed. He was happy at that moment. He didn't have much memories from before Xehanort. It was all blurry, flashes, but in those flashes, was Chirithy.

Chirithy was his friend. Someone who was always there for him. At first, Ven thought he was just a dream, until he saw him on the cliff.

Ven was happy to have Chirithy back, but, Chirithy wasn't telling him about their past. Chirithy was vague, but Ven didn't push. At the moment he just wanted to find Sora. Chirithy did tell him it was Sora and Kairi who brought him back to Ven, and that Sora committed a nature taboo.

And when a taboo against nature is broken, there was a price to pay. Ven refused to believe that, as did all the keyblade wielders. So, their search continued.

"I guess, it counts as a pie, but…" Chirithy trailed off, then he started to blink.

"You okay?" Ven asked.

"I need to check something," Chirithy said, "Be right back."

With that Chirithy poofed away to who knows where. Ven couldn't help but wonder what Chirithy needed to check or where he went. He definitely remembered Chirithy doing that before. Poofing in and out of nowhere, telling him that holding his keyblade in a reverse grip would be a hard way to fight. Chirithy was like his Jiminy.

Ven was about to take a bite of the tart when he realized something.

_Wait… I had a keyblade back then?_

It wasn't clear, but Ven did remember holding something, like a sword when he talked to Chirithy back then. And he was sure Chirithy said "keyblade."

But didn't Xehanort give him the keyblade? Didn't he…

"This is bad," Chirithy returned looking destressed, "They're back!"

"Who's back?" Ven asked.

"The Fortellers!"

_Fortellers!_

Ven suddenly felt his head hurt, the word stirred something in him.

"Ven?"

Ven felt anxiety, fear, rise him at the mention of those words. He felt pain, anger, terror. Even more than he felt toward Xehanort.

Ven managed to calm down and his headache passed. He looked at the Chirithy that was looking at him with concern, "I'm okay… Who are the Fortellers?"

"Um…" Chirithy looked nervous.

"Chirithy please," Ven gently pressed, "If they're dangerous I need to know."

Chirithy didn't answer at first. Ven could see that the little creature was struggling, having an internal battle.

"They…" Chirithy struggled to say, "They're the ones… They're the ones who…"

"The ones…" Ven said.

"They… were the keyblade masters… who started the first Keyblade war," Chirithy finally admitted.

"What?" Ven asked, "How, they died a long time ago."

"I wouldn't say they died. Their hearts were lost, but they are back."

"Ven stood up from his chair and began to pace. This was bad, if the keyblade wielders who started the war was back… Who knows what would happen? A part of Ven told them to calm down, maybe a few million years in limbo had calmed them down.

But what if they didn't.

Ven had to find them and find out. If they were still dangerous he had to know. Or maybe they were scared and confused in this new era. Either way, this needed their attention.

Ven turned to his Chirithy, "Do you know where they are?"

"It looks like their trail leads to a world called, the Elemental Nations?"

Ven felt himself go stiff, "The Elemental Nations? The world war and bloodshed. Where the people hunt and kill each other for fun? The world that destroyed Dawn City?" Ven panicked as he recalled the horror stories Master Eraqus told him.

"I think so…" Chirithy did not know how to respond to Ven's freaked out response.

Ven began to think about. Should he really go to the world of blood to check on some wielders he never met? Somewhere in the back of his mind Aqua was giving him a look.

He slumped, yes, he had to. It was what keyblade wielders did.

"Okay," Ven took in a breath, "I survived getting my heart ripped in half, and a universe destroying war… I can survive one world for a day."

* * *

Sakura sat in the library. She had stacks of books, all of them had at least one thing to say about Keyblade wielders. It took a couple of days, but her team had… somewhat convinced Lady Tsunadae and the others that they really were rescued by keyblade wielders. Everyone thought at first, they were crazy, then they thought it was a joke. Especially when Sai painted a picture of Kairi and Xion.

_ So, two cute girls, who have keyblades saved you?_

Kiba's condescending question reverberated through her mind.

_Are you positive you weren't under a genjutsu?_

Neiji's skepticism.

_Sakura, why don't we have my dad look through your head just in case?_

Ino's test to see if she was crazy.

Tsunadae looked like she was about to level the whole tower. Sakura loved her teacher, but she scared her.

She still didn't know how she convinced the Hokage, but, they did. At the very least they believed that, she believed keyblade wielders were real. Honestly Sakura didn't even know how to begin to explain, she wasn't as confident as Naruto when he explained. She wasn't even sure how to prove a legend was real, other getting everyone to see a real keyblade.

Every time Sakura imagined a keyblade wielder, she imagined a celestial being of pure light, or a giant hero with building muscles, or an otherworldly monster that was ugly or terrifying, or both. That's what you'd usually imagine when you hear read about beings from another world, but Kairi, was just a girl…

A girl who could fly and break free from Itachi's genjutsu, but a girl, nonetheless. She laughed, cried, and got scared.

Sakura remembered how scared she looked when she tried to convince her to go back to the leaf with her. How could someone as powerful as Kairi be scared? But then again, what did she really know about Kairi?

Kairi was an absolute mystery. Sakura didn't know if she really was like the books. An otherworldly being that had no chakra. With powers that could destroy worlds. That should have made Sakura afraid, but it didn't. It made her want to know more. She wanted to know more about Kairi.

She wasn't exactly certain, but she did remember when she talked to Kairi. When she said, she was looking for her friend. Sakura was positive, that loneliness in her eyes, wasn't an act.

Maybe, Kairi needed help…

Sakura opened another book. She flipped to a page about a keyblade wielders power.

_It is said that keyblade wielders could change the shape of their keyblades and that gave them different powers. _

Sakura remembered Kairi switching a keychain on her keyblade, and the shape changed. Then Kairi could fly and create glowing… statues? They didn't move so it didn't feel right to call them shadow clones.

The point was, that part was true, Sakura noted as she continued to read.

_While the keyblade is basically a sword, there are some myths that state they can turn into other weapons. A spear, a shield, etc._

Kairi didn't change her weapon like that, so she couldn't verify. She also read about how keyblade wielders used magic. How they could use any and all elements. It didn't mention natures like ninja were with chakra. Kairi definitely had power over ice, and she vaguely remembered Xion using fire to fight Kisame, and Kakashi-sensei mentioned that in their fight she used lightning.

It was hard to imagine they did all that without chakra. Sakura didn't understand any of this, but she wanted to.

"Sakura," Naruto appeared in the window, startling her and causing her to lose her place in the book.

"What?" She glared at the blonde.

"We need to go to the Deadlands?"

"Why?" Sakura stood up from her seat confused.

"A forest is growing there."

"What?" He couldn't be serious, the Deadlands was famous for its infertile soil. Nothing lived or grew there. That's why it was the **Deadlands**. It was impossible… Wait a minute, something impossible was happening again.

"Do you think," Sakura began, "Kairi and Xion…"

"I think so," Naruto nodded.

Sakura started walking towards the exit, "Let's go."

Sakura didn't know anything about what was going on at the moment. But she did know one thing, when you want to find keyblade wielders; follow the impossible!

Sakura got her gear together and started towards the entrance where she would meet up with the rest of her team. She couldn't wait to start. She wanted to see Kairi again. She wanted to talk to her, to understand her. She didn't know what, but something was drawing Sakura to Kairi.

They reached the gate, and she was surprised to see it wasn't just her team there.

* * *

24 hours earlier

Kairi knew immediately she was asleep; she was looking at Erica.

"Well, that could have gone better," Erica said sarcastically.

"Hey, you try fighting someone without destroying a town full of sleeping people," Kairi pouted.

"Not that! You ran from those ninja's, from Sakura and her friends."

Kairi's hands clenched into fists at that accusation.

"I thought you liked her," Erica said.

"Sakura is nice, but… I don't know her, and this world isn't exactly safe for keyblade wielders," Kairi reminded, "I came here to save Sora, what's wrong with playing it safe?"

"Nothing is wrong with playing it safe, but is that what your heart wants?"

Kairi sighed. The philosophy of the keyblade wielders.

"Well… no… but… I want to find Sora. I can't fight an army of ninjas."

"No one is telling you to, yes there are ninja's who are dangerous, paranoid, and will attack first and ask questions later," Erica said, "But the leaf ninja's you met aren't like that."

"Like the ones you and Tiberius met when you were alive?" Kairi asked raising an eyebrow as she recalled the journal.

"First," Erica raised a finger, "Hashirama was very kind and reasonable, although he was strange. His men attacked us without his permission. Second, that was a century ago, granted everyone is still on edge today, but not as bad as it was in my day, and third the leaf village was the start of a peace movement here, most of ninja's there are not going to attack you because you're strange… most of them."

Kairi made a mental note of the last statement.

"And don't forget Luxu," Erica reminded.

"Who?"

"You know him as Xigbar," Erica explained.

"You're going to need help against him while you're here," Erica said.

"Xion already told me he's not alone," Kairi said.

"She didn't tell you they are the lost masters."

"The what?" Kairi asked.

"The lost masters, remember the story about the keyblade war?"

"Yeah?"

"They started it."

Kairi blinked. She could not have heard that correctly, "Say what now?"

"They are the keyblade masters, who lead armies of young keyblade wielders to their demise and destroyed the universe as they knew it." Erica simply stated like it was no big deal.

"They're dead," Kairi responded almost like a robot.

"Their hearts were ripped from their bodies, Luxu brought them back," Erica explained. Kairi felt her blood go cold.

"So, on top of a terrorist group, of ninja's that want to kill me and Xion, we have to deal with the keyblade masters who, destroyed the universe the first time around?" Kairi asked. Why couldn't they just catch a break?

"Now when you say it like that, it sounds hopeless," Erica said.

Kairi couldn't help but glare at the blind woman, "That's easy for you to say, you're dead. You don't have to deal with this anymore."

"Sure, I do," Erica said, "Watching over the future generation is still my job. It's why I'm here."

"So, you think we should team up with the ninja's?" Kairi asked.

"I'm telling you to follow your heart."

"That's not a solid answer," Kairi stated.

"Well what's the point of these things if you don't figure some of it out on your own?" Erica asked coyly. Kairi wondered how Eraqus became a master from this woman.

"One more thing, you should know," Erica said, "Be careful with magic while you're on that world."

"Why?"

"Sometimes," Erica stated, "When magic and chakra collide the results are… not what you'd expect. Especially your magic Kairi."

"What's wrong with-…" _bzt_ "… my magic?"

"What about your magic?" Kairi sat up to see Xion sitting on a stump looking up from her map on the gummiphone.

Kairi got out of her sleeping bag and began to fold it, "Master Erica appeared in my dream again, she said, if magic and chakra came together, the result would be something unexpected."

"Good to know," Xion helped Kairi pack her sleeping bag before turning towards the Deadlands. The slept on the border, which was well defined. They stood on grass, while just a few feet in front of them was… just dirt. No trees, grass, or weeds. No wildlife at all.

"According to the map the deadlands stretch between the land of fire and the land of wind," Xion said.

"We're looking for the waterfall," Kairi reminded, "Behind that is the entrance to Cardia Town."

"According to the map; the only river, and by extension, the water fall is about a days and a half walk from here," Xion recalled.

"Finally, we get to walk," Kairi sighed. They'd been running straight for three days, ducking towns and people in general. Trying to stay off the radar from the Akatsuki and the Hidden Leaf.

"Yeah, I doubt anyone would want to travel through here," Xion said, "Not safe."

"Let's go."

As they walked, Kairi told Xion about her dream, "I feel like Erica is hiding something from me, but I don't know what."

"I know how you feel," Xion said, "being kept in the dark isn't fun."

"She's exactly lying, just not answering," Kairi said, "I guess she-…" Kairi stopped talking and stopped walking for a moment. Xion glanced behind her to see Kairi clutching her stomach.

"Kairi?" Xion turned back and started to jog back, only for her to trip over a rock and fall.

"Xion!" Kairi's voice rang out suddenly. The red head was crouching next to her double helping her up. When Xion put her weight on her foot, pain shot through her ankle.

She hissed in pain and collapsed back to her knee.

"Are you okay?"

"I can fight an army of heartless, but when I trip, I twist my ankle," Xion gave a dry laugh, "I really am stupid. What about you, are you okay?"

Kairi summoned her keyblade, "let's fix your ankle first, cure!"

The green light washed over Xion and the pain in her ankle faded. She easily stood up, but not before feeling something tickle her knees. She looked down, "Kairi, you grew grass."

"What?" True to her observation, small blades of grass were now growing around Xion's feet.

"Weird," Kairi said, "It's never done that before."

"Never mind that," Xion said, "What happened to you? You got a stomachache?"

Kairi looked down, "I don't know. It just happened, then it was gone."

"Is it your time of the month?"

"No," Kairi shook her head, "I think it's just stress. I'll be fine when we find that waterfall, let's go."

Xion couldn't help but look at Kairi with concern. She couldn't shake the feeling something else was going on with Kairi. Was it this world? Was it trying to reject her? Xion knew she couldn't convince Kairi to leave, so the other option was to hurry up and finish this mission.

"Alright, let's go," Kairi and Xion left the small grass that had magically grew from Kairi's healing spell. After they left, more grass suddenly grew, and a tree sapling began to sprout.

* * *

Ventus landed on the world. He walked into a town, trying to act as casual as possible. He noticed the people were just going on with their lives.

_This isn't so bad._ Ven thought as he walked past a poster board. _Maybe nothing bad will happen._

Ven stopped when he saw a pair of familiar faces on the poster board. He turned and his eyes widened in shock.

Under the word "Missing" was pictures of Kairi and Xion.

"Oh shit!"

**My author soul compels me to write this fic. There will be drama. Delicious, tasty, drama!**

**Now Ventus has joined the party. What will they do next.**


	11. Chapter 11

Busted

Kairi tossed and turned in her sleep. There was… too much going on inside her head. Noises meshing together. Images flashing through her head in a blur. And somehow, she could hear her name being called out

_Kairi…_

_ -We have to-…_

_ -Step away from-_

_ Kairi_

_ -What do you want-_

_ *ROAR*_

_ Kairi_

_ -Why?-_

_ -No, don't-_

_**KAIRI!**_

Kairi was now standing in the last place she thought she'd ever return to. The desolate land, the loaming rock formations. While she didn't seek any keyblades stuck in the ground, she knew, this world was the Keyblade graveyard.

In front of her, was someone wearing a black coat. She couldn't tell who it was. He was sitting on a rock, by his posture, he was bored out of his mind. When footsteps approached both Kairi and the hooded figure turned to see another person in a black coat approaching them.

"So?" The hooded one sitting on the rock asked. Kairi glanced back at him for a second, she didn't recognize his voice.

The approached figure removed his hood, and Kairi's eyes widened. It was Xehanort, when he was younger. But it wasn't his youthful appearance that shocked Kairi, it was his eyes. They were… silver?

"It wards off darkness," Young Xehanort said, "it's useful."

Wards off darkness? Wait did that mean, Xehanort wasn't always possessed by darkness.

"Told ya," the other one quipped, "So, how'd it go? The tour"

Kairi looked back at the hooded man sitting on the rock. Who was this guy, he didn't sound or act like any of the Organization members?

Young Xehanort took a seat next to him on the rock.

"I learned," Young Xehanort responded, "The reason for my existence."

"Ohhhh?" The stranger said dramatically, "Tell me more."

Xehanort looked down, "All around the world, people live seemingly peaceful lives. They consider themselves morale and virtuous, but it's all an act," Kairi frowned, "Darkness lurks in the pit of everyone's heart. Their light, is a total farce."

"That's just human," Kairi said, but neither of them heard her.

The stranger looked ahead, "It sounds like your trip around the world opened your eyes, but you got a bit more than you anticipated. Must have seen a lot of darkness."

Young Xehanort leaned back on his arms and looked up into the sky, "Those who are weak, and desire power simply strip the strong of their power, and convinced themselves they've earned it. That's how people become tainted by darkness. They believe what they want to believe, using hollow reason's and justification. They repeat this cycle and darkness grows."

Kairi did admit that was one way for darkness to grow, but there was still so much light.

The stranger started talking again, "Sounds like someone took a trip next door. So you're saying the weak feel the need to justify their actions to maintain a sense of self. Can't let that slide?"

"No," Young Xehanort shot him a look, "It's better they'd be ruled by darkness."

"There he is," Kairi murmured, the man who wanted to drag everyone into darkness.

"People carry delusions about power," he tightened his fist, "They are but sheep pretending to be wolves. Though I admit, I can understand why."

The stranger acted shocked, "Ohh I've never heard that one before, a keyblade wielder willing to side with the darkness?"

Kairi couldn't tell if this guy was creepy or weird.

"Why not just let them be until the darkness consumes them?"

"Because left alone, the world would fall into chaos. There needs to be order."

"You sure about that," the stranger stood up and began to walk away, "Why not just sit back and let them play out?"

"Understanding hearts is difficult, more so the emotions within," Young Xehanort answered, "I simply believe it's easy to dismiss what you can't comprehend."

"Alright, alright, the world needs you, I'll grant you that one."

"I don't know what to do, but I will act. What comes next is too important."

"I suppose letting false light dictate the future is a pretty lousy move," he turned to face the young man, "So? You can make a change, you have that power. What do you want for the world?

"Power… eh?"

Xehanort actually, looked a bit more relaxed when he answered, "Who knows, my training is coming to an end, and Master Erica says my exam isn't far off. Maybe I can gain some clarity then."

"You're letting the exam decide?" The stranger sounded mildly disappointed, "Listen to me, the results don't matter. You believe the world needs you. Sounds like you already know where you're headed."

Xehanort looked at his hand, "It's funny. Somehow I can sense where I'm supposed to go and what I'm supposed to do. Master Erica… she's been trying to convince me otherwise, but her words don't dissuade. Yes, even this coat there's something familiar about it, as if I'm meant to wear it."

"Hmm…" the stranger hummed before pointing at him," No… you'll ditch it soon."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean one day you're going to out grow it," the stranger said, not as a guess, but as a fact of life.

"How so?"

"If you truly possess great power, the darkness can't control you. You won't need a silly old coat to stay safe. In fact, you'll be the one controlling the darkness instead."

Kairi couldn't help but feel… nervous. How did he know that?

"Me on the other hand," his serious tone quickly turned comical, "I'm too much of a scaredy-cat to ever take mine off."

Xehanort looked at him, "Who are you really, some kind of fortune teller?"

Kairi couldn't help but wonder that as well.

"Well, I could lie and tell you that's what I am. When I'm actually a brilliant artist or scholar," he turned his back on Xehanort and began to preach like a priest, "I could tell you I dream of world peace, when I'm actually planning for it's destruction. The truth is what you see with your eyes, not what you hear."

"Master Erica would disagree."

"Blind ladies are the exception!"

"So, your name?" Xehanort asked any way. Causing the stranger to slouch comically before turning

"What did I just- Nevermind," he sighed, "I guess there's no harm. My name is-…"

"Kairi wake up." Kairi was jolted as she was shook awake by an alarmed Xion.

"Xion calm down, I'm awake," Kairi sat up, "What's…" Kairi trailed off when she looked around. She fell asleep in a desolate wasteland… Where did this forest come from?

* * *

Tsunade looked at the two pictures of the girls Sai had produced. She remembered the story team 7 had told her. About how two keyblade wielders had helped them fight off the Akatsuki… and they were two small girls.

Tsunade didn't think that team 7 lied to her, but she couldn't help but be skeptical. Who wouldn't be? However, she did recall an old story.

When she was very small and she was sick, her grandfather, the first Hokage visited her. He told her that a long time ago, he glimpsed real keyblade wielders. But they vanished, before he could speak with them. It was a small story, but a thrilling one that entertained her while she recovered.

As Tsunade got older, she just assumed her grandfather made up that story to make her feel better. Now… she wished she asked more. Before he died.

It wasn't just her grandfather's story. It was the girls, or more specifically one of them.

Kairi, Sakura had identified. She wondered…

There was a knock at her door, "Come in."

Kakashi entered, "Lady fifth," he greeted respectfully.

"Kakashi, you already know I'm sending you to the Deadlands to investigate this forest," Tsunade reminded.

"I'm aware, but I imagine there's something else you'd like to talk about?" Kakashi asked.

Tsunade glanced back at the painting of the girls.

"These girl really are keyblade wielders?" Tsunade asked.

"I know how ridiculous it sounds-…" Kakashi began until Tsunade held up her hand.

"I'm not calling you a liar or crazy Kakashi," Tsunade explained, "There's something strange going on; the darkening, the iced landslide, now a forest is growing in the Deadlands. I'm starting to incline we may have to look at possible solutions that we… don't normally think of."

"I understand," Kakashi said partially relieved. The only person who believed him without a doubt, was Gai... but that wasn't exactly reassuring.

"That being said," Tsunade held up the picture, "If you find these two, bring them back unharmed, and don't tell anyone about their… possible weapons."

Ever since they told her and the other teams their story, Tsunade had them all sworn to secrecy. If keyblade wielders did exist, if their power was as great and terrible as the legends stated, if they were truly beings from other worlds… Tsunade did not want to imagine what kind of reaction the people would have. Hell, she didn't want to know what reaction Danzo would have!

"I took that as a given," Kakashi said, "Is that all?"

"No," Tsunade said looking at the picture, "There's something else we need to discuss…"

* * *

"The worlds against us!" Kairi shouted as she cut down a tree, only for it to grow back instantly. She slumped. Why couldn't things just be simple?

They went to sleep in a barren wasteland and woke up inside a jungle. Kairi recalling the grass growing around Xion after using her healing spell, made her quickly realize where this forest came from. Her magic was growing it and was still growing it. Kairi had tried everything to stop it.

"I command to stop growing!" Commanding it didn't work it just kept growing.

"Firaga," burning it down did work it just grew back.

"Zanetzuken!" Cutting it down didn't work, the trees just grew back.

"My first mission since the war and all I've done is screw it up at every turn," Kairi slumped against the tree that just grew back.

Kairi released a small grunt, as pain suddenly shot through her stomach. She clutched her stomach, and slid down the tree, enduring the stomachache. Then as quickly as it came, it passed. Just like before.

It started the day after their fight with the ninja's. At first, they were shorter and less painful. Kairi just assumed she pulled something or was hungry. But as the days went by, they got longer and more intense, these stomach pains.

Xion had noticed earlier, but Kairi didn't have time to worry about this. Hopefully it really was just stress. She could handle a few stomach aches. After all she managed to keep up with Xemnas… before he caught her.

"Just as we thought," Xion appeared through the tree line, "It's spreading."

Kairi let out an exasperated groan, "Am I cursed or something?" Now that Kairi thought about it the princesses of heart tended to get cursed one way or another.

"No," Xion shook her head, "I should have used a potion, lets just pick up the pace, we're almost there. Let's just-…"

Xion's gummiphone suddenly rang. It caused them to stiffen as Xion looked at the caller id, "Ven?"

Xion swiped the her finger, answering the video call, what did Ven want?

"Hey Ven, what's-…"

"Are you guys insane?" Ven's angry face filled the screen as he shouted.

"Um…" Xion said confused. Kairi who heard the outburst from the gummiphone stood up equally confused.

"What were you thinking?" Ven reprimanded, "Going to Elemental Nations? Do you have any idea how mad Aqua's going to be?"

Xion quickly tried to play dumb, "What are you talking about Ven? I mean I've never even heard of a world called-…"

Ven raised the missing poster into view of the camera, effectively shutting up Xion and draining the color from Kairi's face when she got in view of the screen.

Ven began to read off the poster, "Missing, two girls, answers to Kairi and Xion. The hidden leaf village is requesting any info on them. If found please contact us."

"Well, at least it doesn't say dead or alive," Kairi laughed nervously.

"Ven, we can explain," Xion quickly said.

"Explain, do you have any idea how dangerous this world is? They know we exist before hand. It's almost impossible to maintain the world order here! Aqua's going to lose it, I don't even want to know what would happen if Mickey or Yen Sid found out."

"We had a good reason," Xion said.

"Wait," Kairi realized something, "Ven, where did you get that poster?"

Ven stiffened, the Xion narrowed her eyes, "Yeah Ven, where did you get that poster?"

"Well…"

"You're here too," Kairi realized, "Aren't you?"

"… Maybe…"

"You jerk!" Xion screamed, "And you have the nerve to yell at us for coming here?"

"Well, I… had a good reason."

"Don't be such a hypocrite!" Xion growled, "What are you doing here, because last time I checked, your status on HeartsBook was still apprentice, not master. So, that means you don't have the authority to come here on your own."

"Neither do you," Ven reminded.

"Okay," Kairi intervened, "Both of you calm down," this wasn't the time to argue, "Ven what are you doing here?"

"Chirithy told me that the Fortellers are back and they're on this world."

"Who?" Xion asked.

"They're the lost masters who started the first keyblade war."

Kairi stiffened.

"Did you hit your head or something Ven?" Xion asked, "How could…"

"Where are they specifically?" Kairi interrupted.

"Huh?"

"I don't know, Chirithy doesn't have a specific location," Ven said, "Why do you believe me."

"Master Erica told me, that Xigbar's friends are lost masters," Kairi said.

"What?"

"Master Erica?" Ven looked confused, "She's dead."

"She is but apparently, she likes to visit Kairi when she sleeps," Xion said, "She's the one who told us to come here?"

"Why would the dead mother of my master tell you to come here?" Ven asked.

"To find Dawn City and use the chamber of revival to rescue Sora," Kairi said.

"Uh… Kairi," Ven said, "Dawn City was destroyed a long time ago."

"It wasn't," Xion dug out the journal, "We have proof, Dawn City wasn't destroyed. It was hidden underground. It's still there and it might help us find Sora."

"Really?" Ven asked.

"Hopefully."

"Okay," Ven nodded, "I'll use the 'Find My Friend' App. It should help lead me to you. Don't move until I get there."

"Wait Ven!" It was too late, Ven hung up.

"How is he supposed to get to us?" Kairi asked.

"He might do something like turn his keyblade into his giant rocket board and fly here."

"That… will attract attention," Kairi stated. Xion slumped.

"Let's keep moving, and hope Ven reaches us before we go underground," Xion said as she slapped a bug away from her.

"Maybe we should stay put," Kairi thought, "I mean, how fast can the ninja's get here anyway?" Kairi swatted at another bug.

"I'm not sitting here where the mosquitos can get me," Xion swatted at another bug.

Kairi looked at the bug, "Wait, what are bugs doing here?"

"It's called the wilderness Kairi," Xion reminded, "Bugs tend to be everywhere."

"Not yesterday," Kairi recalled, "There was nothing here, not even weeds. Nothing for bugs to normally munch on. How can there be bugs here already?"

"Maybe they just move in that fast," Xion thought, "Let's go."

As the two girls walked away, the bug that was pestering them flew back in the opposite direction. After a long time of flying, the bug landed on someone's finger, before digging into the skin.

"I found them."

**I feel Shino was greatly overlooked. The reason is, because he is so quiet.**

**I play KHUX. Terrible evidence has been made clear. Ven, say it isn't so, SAY IT ISN'T SO!**

**Also it was confirmed in KH remind. Kairi did manage to keep up with Xemnas when they fought.**


End file.
